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C Spire

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C Spire Wireless
Company typePrivate
IndustryWireless voice and data services
Founded1988
FounderWade H. Creekmore, Jr. and James H. "Jimmy" Creekmore, Sr.Oxford, Mississippi
Headquarters,
Number of locations
85 stores
Area served
Memphis metropolitan area
Mississippi
Alabama
Florida Panhandle
Rome, Georgia
Key people
Hu Meena – President;
Kevin Hankins – Chief Operating Officer;
Suzy Hays – Senior Vice President, Marketing;
Tony Kent – Chief Technology Officer;
Greg Latour – Senior Vice President, Strategic Development;
Sherry Stegall – Senior Vice President, Sales and Customer Operations
ProductsSMS (text messaging), MMS (picture messaging), BREW, Push to Talk, Mobile banking, E-mail, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Android, Netbook, iPhone
ServicesCDMA2000 1xRTT
EV-DO (wireless voice and data services)
ParentTelapex, Inc.
Websitewww.cspire.com

Cellular South Inc. D/B/A C Spire Wireless[1], headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi, is the eighth largest wireless provider in the United States.[2] C Spire has approximately 900,000 customers in Mississippi, the Memphis Metropolitan Area, the Florida Panhandle, parts of Alabama including Mobile, and Rome, Georgia.[3] The company also holds 700 MHz and AWS licenses covering most of Tennessee and Alabama, though it has not yet extended service to these areas. On September 20, 2011 Cellular South, Inc. filed a trademark application for the C Spire Wireless name and two days later announced that it would market its services under the C Spire Wireless brand effective September 26.[4] C Spire Wireless is owned by the holding company Telapex, Inc[citation needed]., which also owns Telepak Networks, Inc., a provider of broadband internet and phone service, as well as several smaller Mississippi telecoms.


Beginnings

Cellular South, Inc. began its wireless service on the Mississippi Gulf Coast on February 4, 1988, using AMPS technology. Former American football quarterback Archie Manning made the company’s inaugural call from Gulfport, Mississippi to then U.S. Representative Trent Lott in Washington, D.C..[5][6]

Growth

The company has grown steadily year after year.[citation needed] Since 1999, Cellular South has invested more than US$700 million in its wireless network, including constructing 1,403 cell sites, a high-speed wireless broadband network and a permanent microwave ring for redundancy across the Gulf Coast region{cn}}. In 2009, the company purchased Alabama-based Corr Wireless, which expanded its coverage in Alabama and moved it into Georgia for the first time.

The company announced on September 22, 2011 it planned on rebranding to C Spire Wireless effective on September 26.


Products and Services

Cellular South provides flat-rate, unlimited voice and data plans, nationwide digital coverage, a 3G voice and data network and retail stores to teach wireless users how to use wireless features and applications on their smartphones.

On October 19, 2011, C Spire announced plans to sell the Apple iPhone 4S.[7]

Community involvement

C Spire Wireless also sponsors the Cellular South Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) foundation with a focus on higher education.[8] The foundation's stated mission is to provide grants to Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning in order to help advance college education opportunities at these universities. They also consider supporting 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations which are committed to improving the quality of life in the markets they serve with special prioritization given to those entities that do so with a motivation to serve Christ through their respective endeavors.

Additionally, the foundation provides academic scholarships to Mississippi's eight public universities and financial assistance to community organizations that include the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Habitat for Humanity, Stewpot Community Services, Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Make-a-Wish Foundation, March of Dimes, The Mustard Seed, The Salvation Army, Special Olympics and the YMCA.

Cellular South also holds corporate sponsorships for:

References