C Spire completes construction of 225-mile fiber optic cable route along Gulf Coast

MOBILE, Ala., Sept. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- C Spire's dogged determination to rapidly deploy next-generation technology infrastructure for consumers and businesses has resulted in the completion of a 225-mile-long fiber optic cable route from Kiln, Mississippi to West Mobile, Alabama.

Contractors for the broadband and business services division of the diversified telecommunications and technology services company finished work on the two-year-plus, five phase multi-million-dollar Gulf Coast project late last month, overcoming weather delays, permitting requirements and sensitive environmental issues.

The complex project, which placed conduit and fiber optic cable underground and underneath or around several bodies of water, including the Pascagoula River, Biloxi Back Bay and Fort Bayou, spans the counties of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson in Mississippi and Mobile in Alabama, along county roads and U.S. Highway 90 in both states.

C Spire officials said completion of the route is the third major fiber long haul project covering the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coasts, adding to major routes already existing along U.S. Highways 98 and 45. The latest route also provides fiber backbone to the company's cell sites and resilience and redundancy for the network.

"Not only are we connecting our legacy fiber network in Mississippi, which we're using to launch new ultra-fast internet access for consumers in Biloxi, Gulfport and Ocean Springs, but it also helps us expand our reach into Alabama in Mobile and Baldwin counties and Mobile Bay," said C Spire Chief Network Officer Alan Jones.

Combined with its recent acquisition of Harbor Communications and its completion of the long-haul fiber route, C Spire is uniquely positioned to avoid service interruptions and serve the myriad of voice and data needs of consumers and businesses along the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coasts using highly reliable fiber optic infrastructure, Jones added.

"C Spire now can deliver low-latency, secure and highly-reliable services from Pearlington to Perdido – that's a huge lift to the economic growth potential of this region," said Ben Moncrief, managing director of Alabama and senior vice president of Strategic Relations for C Spire, noting that symmetric speeds solve real-world challenges associated with interactive learning, remote work and telehealth applications. "Along with C Spire's other long-haul builds in West Alabama, this new fiber will help to alleviate Alabama's painful lack of accessible long-haul and middle-mile fiber infrastructure."

C Spire is expanding its ultra-fast broadband internet services to consumers and businesses in Alabama as part of an overall $1 billion investment announced earlier this year to speed the development and deployment of fiber broadband and network enhancements across its three-state footprint.

Alabama ranks 38th nationally in broadband access and state leaders have made access to fast, reliable and affordable internet for rural areas a priority through state funding and creation of the Alabama Rural Broadband Coalition, a group of community, business and government leaders dedicated to job creation, economic development and business growth.

Local business and community economic development leaders praised C Spire's continued fiber expansion in Alabama. "High-speed Internet and specifically fiber-based broadband is critical to business operations as well as their employees, with more of them working from home," said David Rodgers, vice president of economic development for the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce. "Reaching into Mobile and expanding our infrastructure is an important asset in the Mobile Area Chamber's economic development efforts. This project also has an important job-creation component and is helping bridge the digital divide for the businesses and people in our area."

About C Spire
C Spire is a diversified telecommunications and technology services company that provides world-class, customer-inspired wireless communications, 1 Gigabit consumer Internet access as well as a full suite of dedicated Internet, wireless, IP Voice, data, cloud and managed services for businesses.  This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire.

SOURCE C Spire

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