C Spire, Phazr launch 5G service in Mississippi

5G is not just for the nation’s largest wireless operators. Mississippi-based C Spire, which operates the nation’s seventh-largest wireless communications unit, teamed with 5G millimeter wave pioneer Phazr to launch a 28 GHz-based fixed wireless service in a Harrison County subdivision near the city of Gulfport.

The deployment, which launched in early December, is being offered to residents in the 84-home Landon Place subdivision. Residents connected to the service report getting download speeds of up to 750 Mbps, upload speeds of up to 600 Mbps with latency as low as 8 milliseconds, according to C Spire President Stephen Bye.

“We use areas like this residential subdivision to continue our efforts to deliver on the promise of moving Mississippi forward with ground-breaking internet access for consumers and businesses,” Bye said in a press release. “In our state, broadband technology is the path to a stronger economy, more jobs and a healthier lifestyle.”

The company plans to deploy fixed wireless internet service to thousands of consumers and businesses across the state over the next several years as part of its Tech Movement initiative and to meet the growing needs for high-quality, fast internet access while boosting the state’s $108.5 billion economy.

C Spire confirmed to FierceWirelessTech back in 2017 that it was conducting a 5G R&D test with Phazr. Now, the vendor is partnering with C Spire to develop affordable 5G millimeter wave solutions using 5G client devices and base stations to extend the company’s 8,700 route miles of fiber infrastructure across its network, much of it at the edge of many neighborhoods, towns, cities and counties.

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“5G RAN technology is the engine behind C Spire’s fixed wireless deployment and provides them with a new, flexible option that can be offered across any part of their footprint, including the many hard to reach, less accessible areas,” said Farooq Khan, president of the Phazr unit at JMA Wireless, in a statement.

RELATED: JMA Wireless acquires 5G radio solutions provider Phazr

When Phazr was acquired by JMA Wireless last year, it wasn’t naming names, but said its 5G New Radio vRAN was being trialed by three major U.S. operators, with commercial deployments possible by the second quarter of 2019.