C Spire says Jackson, Miss., meets qualification for 1 Gbps service

C Spire says that more neighborhoods in Jackson, Miss., have met the qualifications to get its 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service and related HDTV and voice services.

Jackson's Belhaven Northeast fiberhood reached its pre-registration target and now joins the Eastover and Fondren East fiberhoods, which qualified for services last week. 

The service provider expects to complete engineering and start construction on the latest fiberhood beginning in mid-July with an initial focus on serving area residential customers. C Spire expects to offer commercial fiber-based services to businesses beginning in November.

At the same time, C Spire is working with Jackson to provide free 1 Gbps Internet access at two municipal community centers to help local residents learn more about the benefits of the higher speed service. Set to begin in June, the technology program is designed to help the city expand its computer learning lab at the Johnnie C. Champion Community Center and offer digital literacy classes at the Medgar Evers Community Center.

After C Spire began online pre-registration for the service last fall, the company said that several thousand residents expressed interest in the triple play service suite by making $10 refundable deposits and providing credit card information.  

Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber said in a release that other parts of the city are making progress and are expected to qualify for the next-generation technology soon, including the Country Club and Belhaven Northwest fiberhoods.

"That's a good thing because we want to ensure that this service is available in every area of our city where residents want it," Yarber said.

Similar to Google Fiber's (NASDAQ: GOOG), C Spire's 1 Gbps Internet access is available for $70 a month, $90 a month for combined Internet and home phone, $130 for Internet and Super HD TV and $150 a month for the entire package of all three services. Non customers are required to pay an additional $10 a month on all packages.

For more:
- see the release

Special report: Google Fiber, AT&T, CenturyLink drive the 1 Gbps game

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