By Erica Thomas, managing editor
TRUSSVILLE — Representatives from C Spire celebrated the availability of fiber internet for some Trussville residents on Thursday, April 1, 2021.
Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat joined C Spire at the home of Jerry Tortorigi for the celebration.
“I think that this service that we’re bringing to Trussville right now allows us to grow not only our residential experience with internet but also our businesses who focus on economic development,” Choat said.
Tortorigi was one of the first fiber residents of Trussville to get C Spire’s “ultra-fast, all-fiber Gigabit broadband internet.”
“They [C Spire] did a very, very neat job running the cable to the house,” Tortorigi said.
Tortorigi said the faster internet has helped him save time in the real estate business.
The fiber internet is currently available for residents in the Cahaba Project area and in an area south of Highway 11 near Magnolia Elementary School.
C Spire Home Services Division General Manager Ashley Phillips said more opportunities will become available based on crowd-sourcing.
“When you go onto the site right now to check your service, you will put in your address and find out if it is in construction or it’s already here and it’s active,” said Phillips. “If it is not already in that phase, you enter your information and you express your interest and we collect that information and consumers drive where we go with the product.”
Phillips said they will install fiber internet in places showing the most interest.
Trussville becomes the second Alabama city – following Jasper in late 2020 – to receive the services inside Alabama’s borders as part of the company’s FiberFast initiative.
In January 2021, C Spire announced a $1 billion investment to speed the development and deployment of fiber broadband and network enhancements, and about $500 million is scheduled to be spent on fiber expansion in Alabama over a five-year period. C Spire’s deployment of all-fiber symmetrical infrastructure and ultra-fast broadband internet helps attract industry and improve Alabamians’ quality of life.
Trussville and Jasper residents are the first Alabamians to receive C Spire’s service, but more communities, including Pelham, Helena, Northport, Tuscaloosa and parts of Mobile County, have executed franchise agreements with C Spire and are on the drawing board for construction and service in 2021.
Alabama ranks 38th nationally in broadband access and state leaders have made access to fast, reliable and affordable internet for rural areas a priority through state funding and creation of the Alabama Rural Broadband Coalition, a group of community, business and government leaders dedicated to job creation, economic development and business growth.
“We know broadband expansion is critical to Alabama’s future, and it’s fantastic to see C Spire making such a huge investment in our state,” said state Rep. Danny Garrett of Trussville. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted this need more than ever before, and it’s rewarding to know C Spire is helping us bridge the digital divide.”
C Spire Fiber has no data caps, cancellation fees or long-term contracts and does not use pricing promotions and gimmicks.
C Spire, a privately-held company that has been in business over 32 years and provides wireless, broadband and managed business and data services in Mississippi, other states and across the country, plans to deploy its ultra-fast, all-fiber Gigabit broadband internet access and related services to more homes and business in Alabama in the near future.
For more information about C Spire’s fiber broadband internet service rollout in Alabama, go to www.cspire.com/alfiber.