It seems like everyone and their mother are looking to roll out their own LTE networks these days: Verizon and AT&T continue to build theirs out, Sprint is busy laying the groundwork (possibly without LightSquared’s help), and MetroPCS and U.S. Cellular are offering LTE on a more local scale.
Now an even smaller operator is looking to join the fray — C Spire Wireless (formerly known as Cellular South) aims to light up LTE service in September 2012. The only catch is that you’ll have to be in Mississippi to use it.
C Spire seems to be taking things nice and easy for right now, as their LTE network is expected to go live in 20 markets throughout Mississippi, though there’s no word yet on their plans beyond the Magnolia State. As the eighth-largest wireless provider in the country, their wireless purview only includes Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Tennessee and Florida, so here’s hoping for a quick and painless process for their customers.
I’ll admit, it may seem a bit weird for such a small company to sink money into building out an LTE network, but I doubt that customers will have much room to complain. A quick look at Verizon and AT&T’s coverage maps proves that there’s no other LTE to be had in the state, save for a small pocket of Verizon high speed data in Mississippi’s northeast corner.
Even less is known about what kind of hardware C Spire customers will have access to, though I don’t feel particularly bad for them: they’re the only ones who can score an iPhone 4S on contract for $150.