C Spire and Entergy are putting the finishing touches on an $11 million all-fiber infrastructure project that paves the way for faster broadband speeds in rural areas of Mississippi.
Contractors for C Sprire are finishing up the longest continuous span of fiber-optic cable—6,585 linear feet—in the company's history underneath the 33,000-acre Ross Barnett Reservoir in Mississippi. The fiber is one element of a broadband internet infrastructure project with Entergy Mississippi that spans 300 miles across 15 rural counties in the state.
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This week, construction crews drilled 40 feet below the mud line under the reservoir bottom to place conduit and connect the 6,585-linear-foot section of the last remaining span between Highway 43 on the south end of the reservoir and Pipeline Road on the north end of the reservoir, which serves as the state's largest drinking water resource. It took the contractors 18 months to finish the construction project in December.