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C Spire – which is likely the biggest regional wireless provider in the US – is moving into FWA. That has implications for Nokia, Inseego, Charter, Comcast and others in Mississippi.
C Spire is now offering 5G-powered fixed wireless access (FWA) services across its network in Mississippi.
The move has implications for the company itself, its vendors, the cable operators in its coverage area, and other firms pursuing US federal broadband funding – not to mention the Mississippians who might sign up for home Internet services over C Spire's 5G network.
In its announcement, C Spire cited research showing that 23% of Mississippi households lack an Internet connection. "C Spire plans to change that with fixed wireless access," the company said.
C Spire is a privately owned telecommunications and technology company based in Ridgeland, Mississippi. The company's roots trace back to the 1950s when it began as a local exchange carrier. It launched mobile services in 1988 under the Cellular South name, and it became C Spire in 2011.
C Spire is rumored to have about 1 million mobile customers, which would probably make it the biggest regional wireless network operator in the US after UScellular (which is in the process of being divided up among the big nationwide wireless network operators in the US).
It's also worth noting this isn't C Spire's first foray into fixed wireless; the company offered a Wi-Fi-based FWA service in 2018. Now, though, its new FWA offering runs on its cellular network and offers customers "a more streamlined product experience," according to C Spire.
The FWA details
In response to questions from Light Reading, C Spire said its "5G Home Internet" service supports download speeds up to 100 Mbit/s. It costs $70 a month, plus a $35 activation fee. The customer's receiver is included in that plan cost.
"We are launching our 5G Home Internet in select areas, with plans to expand throughout the year. Customers can check their address online for eligibility at cspire.com/5GHomeInternet. Currently, this service is available in 192 communities across Mississippi," according to C Spire.
Nokia is C Spire's vendor for radio equipment. C Spire's partnership with Nokia is important because both AT&T and Verizon have phased the vendor out of their respective 5G networks in the US. That leaves only T-Mobile as a big Nokia customer in the US – and there are rumors that T-Mobile might be moving away from Nokia too.
Thus, C Spire's ongoing support of Nokia represents a feather – albeit a small one – in Nokia's US cap.
On the receiver side, C Spire is using Inseego's 5G Wavemaker FX3110 indoor FWA cellular router. That's important for Inseego considering that company recently overhauled its capital structure and named Qualcomm's Juho Sarvikas as its new CEO.
In terms of spectrum, C Spire said its 5G Home Internet uses all of its spectrum holdings. According to Airwave Research, C Spire holds around $580 million worth of spectrum, mainly covering Mississippi, across bands including 600MHz, 700MHz, 850MHz, 1900MHz, 2.5GHz and C-band.
The competitive impact
C Spire's new FWA service could compete with cable offerings from the likes of Comcast and Charter Communications in Mississippi.
That's important considering FWA services from Verizon and T-Mobile have had a profound impact on those two cable operators over the past few years.
Indeed, in the fourth quarter of 2024, Comcast lost 139,000 residential broadband subscribers, while Charter shed 171,000. FWA services from the likes of Verizon and T-Mobile are primarily to blame.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile added 428,000 FWA customers during the fourth quarter, and Verizon added 373,000. That brings T-Mobile's FWA customer base to 6.4 million and Verizon's base to 4.6 million.
It's likely that, at least in the state of Mississippi, C Spire's FWA launch will exacerbate the FWA strain on Comcast and Charter.
To be clear, T-Mobile and Verizon already offer FWA across their nationwide footprints. But they do so on a house-by-house basis, based on where they have excess capacity in their network. Thus, C Spire's FWA service might overlap – or might not overlap – the FWA services already offered by T-Mobile and Verizon.
The convergence angle
In 2013, C Spire became one of the nation's first gigabit fiber providers. Today it offers fiber across wide sections of Mississippi. The company said it's offering FWA into areas where it does not operate fiber.
The company told Light Reading it doesn't offer bundled mobile/FWA services today, but that it is "working to release bundled discount options in the near future."
That's important because other companies including AT&T and Verizon have begun focusing heavily on converging their wireless and wireline offers.
Indeed, Comcast said last week it is preparing to introduce a wave of new, simplified home broadband/mobile packages in its upgraded cable markets. Specifics about those packages haven't been announced, but Comcast officials said the company will put a greater emphasis on packages that feature wireless and are paired with higher-end broadband speed tiers.
The BEAD angle
Will C Spire pursue federal funding through the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program launched during the Biden administration?
"C Spire is reviewing all eligible locations in the states that we operate in as well as potential policy changes with the new administration before making any final determination on BEAD participation," the company told Light Reading.
Mississippi last year had its initial BEAD proposal approved by the NTIA, paving the way for the state to begin administering $1.2 billion in BEAD funds.
However, it's possible that Mississippi's BEAD program will receive an overhaul as President Trump kicks off his second term. Howard Lutnick, Trump's pick to head the Commerce Department, said in recent Congressional testimony that he's open to modifying the BEAD program as he takes office.
"Let's do it efficiently and let's do it swiftly, let's use satellites, let's use wireless and let's use fiber. And let's do it the cheapest, most efficiently we can, and I commit to working with you to make sure the states execute and deliver on the promise that Congress has made," Lutnick said, according to PolicyBand.
The NTIA is part of the Commerce Department.
Thus, such comments could position C Spire to pursue BEAD funding for fiber as well as fixed wireless, depending on how Mississippi officials ultimately decide to navigate the funding program.
The ongoing debate over the contours of BEAD is clearly starting to annoy some vendors.
"There is a lot of noise and no news," said Calix CEO Michael Weening during his company's recent quarterly conference call, in response to a question on government funding programs. "So we run our business based upon facts and things changing. And therefore, as the facts evolve, we'll adjust our strategy accordingly. But at this point, we have no comment because it's just a lot of noise."
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