C Spire, Entergy complete all-fiber broadband infrastructure project in rural Mississippi

BRANDON, Miss., Dec. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- News media representatives are invited to attend a press briefing on Thursday, Dec. 19 on the banks of the Ross Barnett Reservoir to celebrate completion of an $11 million all-fiber infrastructure project by C Spire and Entergy that paves the way for advanced broadband internet services in rural areas of Mississippi.

C Spire, Entergy and Mississippi Public Service Commission officials will discuss details of the project and the importance of broadband infrastructure to the state's economy, education, healthcare and in meeting the voice and data communications needs of consumers and businesses in the Magnolia state.

Business executives and government officials also will herald the completion of the project by the two companies that spans over 300 miles and 15 counties in some of the most rural, isolated areas of the state and highlight a historic engineering feat that is allowing contractors to finish the18-month construction project this month.

Construction crews this week drilled 40 feet below the mud line under the lake bottom to place conduit and connect a 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 lake, which serves as the state's largest drinking water resource.

The span is the longest in C Spire history, eclipsing a 6,000 linear foot span the Mississippi-based diversified telecommunications and technology services firm built to restore essential communications in Smithville, a North Mississippi town virtually destroyed by an EF5 tornado in 2011 that killed 16 people, injured 41 and destroyed 117 homes and damaged another 50 buildings.

     WHEN:               Thursday, December 19, 2019


            
     11 a.m. CT




     WHERE:              Tommy's Trading Post (parking lot)


            
     4238 Mississippi Highway 43


            
     Brandon, MS 39047




     WHO:                             -- Hu Meena, Chairman and CEO, C Spire


                                                     -- Haley Fisackerly, President and CEO,
                                                      Entergy Mississippi


                                                     -- Brandon Presley, Northern District
                                                      Commissioner, Mississippi Public Service
                                                      Commission

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SOURCE C Spire