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C Spire restarts LTE rollout, aims for September launch in Mississippi

After missing its year-end 2011 target date, C Spire is once again set to get its LTE network up and running -- this time with a more realistic fall launch. The regional carrier announced plans for that initial rollout today, aiming to blanket 20 markets in Mississippi this September. Bear in mind, this particular flavor of 4G is more akin to the brisk, though not blistering performance achieved by HSPA+, given average downlink speeds should range between 4Mbps to 12Mbps and uplink at 1Mbps to 5Mbps. Considering this may be the first taste of non-3G for some denizens of the Magnolia State, it's not a bad start. For the sake of our southern brethren, we just hope the carrier can actually fulfill on its grandiose, next-gen promises this time 'round. Check out the official presser after the break.

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Fast Gets Faster: C Spire Wireless To Launch 4G LTE In 20 Markets

Nation's Only Personalized Network Will Be First to Deliver High-Speed Wireless Data Speeds Up to 10 Times Faster in Most Mississippi Markets This Fall
4G LTE

C Spire Wireless 4G LTE Fact Sheet

Ridgeland, Miss. (March 8, 2012) – C Spire Wireless, the only U.S. provider that offers a suite of personalized wireless services, released details today on its plans to introduce 4G LTE (Fourth Generation Long Term Evolution) high-speed mobile broadband services this fall.

The company plans to invest $60 million to begin the roll out 4G LTE mobile broadband services in September in 20 Mississippi markets covering 2,700 square miles, a population of 1.2 million and more than 360 cell sites. The new service will provide 4 out of every 10 consumers and businesses in Mississippi with wireless data speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G, allowing C Spire to be the first provider to make these services widely available in the state.

"Wireless networks are all about coverage, quality and speed, and the C Spire Wireless personalized network cannot be beat," said Hu Meena, president and CEO for C Spire Wireless. "We will continue to lead the way with our aggressive 4G LTE network upgrades so that our customers have the wireless services that allow them to do what they want to do when they need to do it in more places that matter to them." Today's announcement only involves the first phase of our 4G LTE deployment. More phases and more coverage will soon follow."

Initial Deployment Phase Planned for 20 Mississippi Markets Representing 1.2 Million Population

Meena said the company plans to begin the roll out of its 4G LTE mobile broadband services in September in the following markets, most of which will be the first time consumers have access to the high-speed technology:

Jackson metropolitan area
Mississippi Gulf Coast
In South Mississippi: the cities of Brookhaven, Columbia, Natchez, Petal, Hattiesburg, McComb and Lucedale;
In North Mississippi: the cities of Oxford, Tupelo, Corinth, New Albany, Pontotoc, Booneville, Starkville, Columbus and West Point;
In the Mississippi Delta, the cities of Yazoo City, Cleveland, Greenville, Greenwood and Clarksdale
In East Mississippi: the city of Meridian and parts of Lauderdale County


Mississippi business and government leaders praised C Spire for its technology investment in Mississippi. "Private sector investments like these by C Spire Wireless will help in our continued efforts to attract high-technology industries and jobs to the Magnolia state," said Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. "Expanding wireless broadband access through the latest and fastest technologies is critical to our state's economic development, education, small business and health care sectors."

Tony Jeff, president and CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, said the deployment of 4G LTE services in the state will help both consumers and small businesses. "A more robust mobile broadband experience drives economic growth, stimulates jobs and equips Mississippi consumers and businesses with the latest and fastest technologies to meet their growing wireless voice and data communications needs," Jeff said. "C Spire Wireless has significantly ramped up its wireless investments to enable an experience that offers Mississippi consumers and businesses better speed, better reliability and better availability of high-speed data communications."

C Spire is the first provider to make the next generation of high-speed mobile broadband data services widely available to Mississippians. "We're moving aggressively to offer 4G LTE services to customers who want to experience the freedom and benefits this dramatic increase in data speeds provides," Meena said. "Also, we'll be the first provider to make the next generation of high-speed mobile broadband data services widely available in many parts of our service area. For consumers, this paves the way for a future of tightly integrated voice and data services."

Lightning-Fast Upload and Download Speeds Will Be Available Over Company's 4G LTE Network

Customers can expect to experience average data speeds from 4 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) when downloading content and speeds from 1 to 5 Mbps when uploading content on the company's 4G LTE network, according to David Smith, vice president of Network Engineering for C Spire Wireless.

"Our network teams and technicians are working hard to prepare for the rollout of our 4G LTE network later this year," Smith said. "We've been aggressively deploying fiber optic cable, installing enhanced backhaul connections and microwave rings and adding network capacity to hundreds of cell sites in anticipation of the launch."

For more information about C Spire's 4G LTE plans, go to www.cspire.com/4G.