C Spire adding community colleges in Mississippi to its Mississippi Optical Network

GOLDENT TRIANGLE/ITAWAMBA, Miss (WCBI) —  A game changing announcement was made Thursday by C Spire that will help community colleges here in Mississippi.

C Spire announced they are expanding their Mississippi optical network to all 15 community colleges here in the state.

EMCC President Dr. Scott Alsobrooks said this couldn’t have come at a better time.

“With the broadband connectivity,  makes it so much easier,” said Alsobrooks.”I couldn’t imagine trying to engage with students even five years ago with the connectivity we had then it would be impossible. We would not have been able to serve students through this pandemic without services like C-Spire and their fiber optic network.”

What does this mean for community colleges?

“Number one it’s going to save money for the community colleges and students that we serve,” said Alsobrooks. “Number two it’s going to give them excellent broadband connection.”

Jason Guntharp, Systems Engineer at Itawamba Community College, saif students across the state have faced challenges when it comes to internet service during this pandemic.

“Without the ability for students to login to distance-learning systems, the idea that a student cannot get into a zoom class from his or her home, that’s a really big deal,” said Guntharp.