Public/private partnerships creating jobs, growing the economy & improving quality of life
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., (Sept. 13, 2022) – C Spire is building an all-fiber Gigabit broadband internet across Alabama thanks to significant public/private partnerships that are boosting service across the state.
Through its subsidiary Troy Cable, which the diversified telecommunications and technology services company acquired last year, C Spire has secured eight state grants and a federal grant (Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs and federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund) worth $40.7 million to deploy fiber across the state, especially in rural areas. All projects have been delivered on time or ahead of schedule, and greater than expectations.
C Spire has also applied to participate in the state middle-mile grant program with ADECA. While an award has yet to be announced, the proposed network includes a statewide build of more than $130 million that will support, catalyze and facilitate future last-mile projects by partnering with a variety of nonprofit and for profit entities.
C Spire is 18 months into a $500 million investment on fiber infrastructure and network enhancements in Alabama to provide ultra-fast broadband internet access for consumers and other advanced voice and data services to businesses.
This is part of a three-year initiative, announced in January of 2021 to invest $ 1 billion across Alabama and Mississippi – the largest capital spend in the firm’s history. The initiative is accelerating the deployment of fiber across both states. C Spire is also completing a 243 mile long haul fiber initiative from Meridian, Miss. to Homewood, Ala., bringing service to a rural part of the state that is underserved.
C Spire/Troy Cable provides connectivity to 17 electrical cooperatives, rural telephone companies, or fixed wireless providers in Alabama and Mississippi, and also provides fiber backhaul to more than 800 cellular service tower sites.
“These grants and partnerships, along with our own investment are bringing ultra-fast fiber to rural communities across the state, encouraging private sector broadband investment and leveraging existing resources to residents and businesses in Alabama,” said Ben Moncrief, executive vice president-Alabama for C Spire. “It’s a win-win initiative that will bolster Alabama and Mississippi as tech leaders in the Southeast.”
The recent ADECA grant C Spire applied for includes $51 million from the ARPA-State Fiscal Recovery Fund and $34 million from the ARPA-Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Revenue Replacement Fund – to support the improvement and expansion of broadband network access to the citizens of Alabama. The key goal of this grant effort is to expand middle-mile connectivity to as much of Alabama as possible to fuel innovation, investment and last-mile broadband deployment.
C Spire’s current broadband project will provide ultra-fast, all-fiber services to more than 200,000 homes and businesses by 2025 in Alabama and Mississippi, where the diversified telecommunications and technology services firm expanded its broadband internet availability in the marketplace.
When completed, the project is expected to expand next-generation, ultra-fast gigabit broadband services to more than two dozen markets across Alabama.
“We have a strong reputation of providing world-class products and services to consumers and businesses and this investment signals that we intend to deliver these benefits faster than ever before,” said Jake Cowen, senior vice president and general manager for C Spire Fiber.
Cowen said the investment is expected to generate hundreds of new direct jobs in Alabama and result in millions of dollars in secondary economic benefits for both states through contracts and agreements with firms who will help C Spire with the massive infrastructure deployment and construction efforts.
C Spire has already launched Gigabit broadband fiber for consumers in more than 50 cities across Alabama, with construction underway in several other communities. “This is a game-changer, helping grow the economy and improving the quality of life for everyone,” he said.
Business executives also expressed support for the C Spire investment initiative, including the 2,662-member Business Council of Alabama, that estimates some 5,000 new businesses would benefit from the broadband infrastructure improvements.
C Spire is bringing the cutting-edge technology benefits to consumers and businesses, leveraging several recent acquisitions, including Troy Cable, Teklinks and Harbor Communications, to accelerate its growth and expansion efforts.
For additional information on C Spire fiber broadband internet in Alabama, visit www.cspire.com/FiberFast. For more information about C Spire products and services, visit www.cspire.com.
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 IT services for businesses and enterprises. 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.
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