C Spire opens FTTH pre-registration

C Spire has opened the next round of its 1-Gbps fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) initiative and is accepting preregistrations from citizens in nine Mississippi communities.

Taking a page out of Google’s playbook, C Spire initially opened a “Get Fiber First” competition among Mississippi communities to determine where it would begin its statewide roll out. While the company originally expected to name a single community as the launching point, it ended up naming nine communities as potential inaugural markets (see “C Spire names Get Fiber First finalists for 1-Gbps FTTH”). The nine include in Batesville, Clinton, Corinth, Hattiesburg, Horn Lake, McComb, Quitman, Ridgeland and Starkville. The local governments of all nine cities and towns have reached franchise agreements with C Spire.

Like Google, C Spire now has opened customized webpages for residents of each community to pre-register for service. “Fiberhoods” in each community must meet a certain percentage of pre-registrations before C Spire will begin building FTTH infrastructure in the neighborhood and making connections. There are 80 fiberhoods total in the nine cities; target signup percentages vary between 35% and 45%, C Spire says.

“As soon as a critical number of neighborhoods have reached their percentage goals in a fiberhood, C Spire plans to begin construction – so there is a possibility that work could commence in more than one community at the same time,” said Gregg Logan, senior vice president of C Spire Fiber.

The refundable pre-registration fee is $10. C Spire will make the 1-Gbps Internet service available for $80 a month; a combined Internet and home phone package will run $100 a month, Internet and digital TV will be available for $140 a month, and a package for all three will cost $160 a month. C Spire Wireless customers will receive an additional $10 monthly discount on all packages.

“There’s a tremendous amount of excitement in each of these communities and a strong desire to be among the first to receive the 1 Gig Internet service to the home,” said Hu Meena, president and CEO of C Spire. “We’re looking forward to bringing tomorrow’s technology to these Mississippi communities today because we know that this service has the power to transform communities into hubs for technology investment and economic growth.”

For more information on FTTx equipment and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.