Four Starkville “fiberhoods” are now qualified for engineering and construction efforts associated with C Spire’s upcoming fiber optic, residential Internet service, and a spokesperson says the company could soon announce a service turn-on date for two city neighborhoods.
Last month, the Hiwassee neighborhood exceeded C Spire’s 45 percent homeowner pre-registration mark, which now qualifies the area for the company’s 1 gigabyte Internet service. Other “fiberhoods,” including South Montgomery, Timbercove and the Cotton District, qualified for engineering efforts earlier this year.
Company marketing claims its residential fiber optic service is up to 100 times faster than most current residential broadband Internet service.
Workers began installing fiber optic lines in South Montgomery and Timbercove, the first two neighborhoods to exceed pre-registration marks this year, this summer.
Dave Miller, a C Spire media relations representative, said the company will announce the services’ start-up dates this month, which will signal when customers can begin paying for and receiving high-speed Internet, TV and phone options. Sales teams will then go door to door in the community, he said, so customers can sign contracts to begin receiving Internet, TV and telecommunication services.
“We’re really starting to see widespread progress in our efforts to become a gigabit city,” said Mayor Parker Wiseman. “We’ve still got work to do and we’re definitely not finished, but I’m excited that we have the opportunity to bring this advanced technology to more people in our community.”
In November, C Spire officials announced Batesville, Clinton, Corinth, Hattiesburg, Horn Lake, Jackson, McComb, Quitman, Ridgeland and Starkville would vie to become the first Mississippi cities to receive the company’s high-speed service. They divided each city into “fiberhoods” based upon geography and population density and used pre-registration – a $10 fee – percentages to measure interest.
Starkville’s Oktibbeha Gardens/Old West Point Road area could become the fifth of 10 “fiberhoods” to qualify, as the neighborhood has 23 percent of the required 45 percent of pre-registration tally needed to advance forward and begin engineering and construction processes.
The other five “fiberhoods” lag behind in pre-registration efforts. For example, the Green Oaks/Lakes/Greensboro Center/Tally Ho Road and University Hills/Highlands areas have only 8 percent and 6 percent pre-registration, respectively.
More apparent lags in pre-registration efforts also exist in other cities: None of Batesville, Clinton, McComb, Corinth or Hattiesburg’s “fiberhoods” are qualified for the service.
“Success cannot happen without a good public-private partnership with local leaders as they are the primary ones driving momentum in successful cities, including Starkville,” Miller said.
C Spire is not expected to connect non-qualifying neighborhoods to the service until they reach pre-registration marks, which means some portions of Starkville could remain without the service for an undetermined amount of time. Miller said the company will, however, continue to make pre-registration available.
“As long as progress is continuing to be made and we’re seeing momentum, we’ll continue to allow areas to move forward,” he said. “We’ve found in the last year that the most effective advocacy for this infrastructure comes from one-on-one contact between neighbors who understand how this service can even influence property value.”
Officials have lauded the service since its announcement last year, saying the high-speed, residential Internet connection will transform cities and provide a significant boon to economic and community development.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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