Jones County subdivision latest addition to C Spire's Fiber-to-the-Home program offering Gigabit speed internet, award-winning live streaming TV and digital home phone service

ELLISVILLE, Miss., Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlands, a residential subdivision in Jones County just outside the city of Ellisville, is poised to become the first community in south Mississippi to receive C Spire's next-generation Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Gigabit speed broadband Internet access, award-winning live streaming TV and digital home phone service.

C Spire began taking FTTH service orders earlier this month from homeowners in the first phase of the 300-lot Highlands development, which is located on 450 acres between Highway 11 and Interstate 59.  Placement of fiber optic cable infrastructure is scheduled to begin in mid-October with service for the first customers expected by December.

"We're excited about partnering with C Spire and becoming the first development in south Mississippi to bring this revolutionary technology to homeowners and families," said Steve Jennings, CFO for Tillery Properties, LLC, a Laurel-based company overseeing the new home construction.

Jennings said choices for internet access in the area have been limited to slower DSL and satellite services, but C Spire's 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) internet access will be a "game-changer" for frustrated residents.  "DSL isn't even offered in our area any longer after a resident disconnects, so this super-fast internet is going to help dramatically change that situation."

Ross Tucker, president and CEO of the Jones County Economic Development Authority, said he expects the fiber optic infrastructure to boost home values and potentially lure new high-tech business investment to the county.  "It's happened in other areas and there's no reason to believe it won't happen here, especially if C Spire continues to deploy additional fiber in our region."

In addition to Gigabit-speed internet, which is available in only a handful of regions across the U.S., C Spire is offering Highlands residents digital home phone service and the nation's first app-based, live streaming digital commercial TV service, which was honored by the cable TV industry in 2017 as the best television technology product in the U.S.

C Spire TV delivers advanced cable TV features that consumers love in convenient and simple apps that are designed to run on popular streaming devices, such as Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku TV – eliminating the need to outfit every TV in the home with a set top box and saving several hundred dollars a year in rental fees.

"Fiber to the Home is a revolutionary technology that promises to boost home values, broaden entertainment opportunities, help expand the local economy and improve the quality of life for everyone," said Ashley Phillips, general manager of the C Spire Home Services subsidiary that manages the company's FTTH program.

With the addition of the Highlands development, C Spire has rolled out ultra-fast Gigabit internet access and related services in 13 Mississippi markets, boosting broadband connection speeds in the state by 200 percent since 2014.  The suite of services is competitively priced with additional discounts for C Spire wireless customers.  To learn more or find out if your home qualifies, visit www.cspire.com/fiber.

FTTH is part of the C Spire Tech Movement initiative designed to leverage the company's technology leadership and investments to help transform its service areas.  Other program elements include creation of an AI-infused digital customer care platform and other leadership initiatives to drive innovation and development of a 21^st century technology workforce. To learn more about the C Spire Tech Movement, visit www.cspire.com/cms/wireless/tech-movement/.

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 and cloud 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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