Free Wi-Fi now available in Downtown Starkville
STARKVILE, Miss. (WCBI) – The City of Starkville just added some new technology to Downtown that will make the area more accessible to residents.
Free Wi-Fi is now available for anyone passing through town.
The city and its partners cut the ribbon on the new advancement Wednesday morning.
“I think it’s an extraordinary opportunity for our residents, our students, our college students, and particularly as we get the new downtown put together, you can see that there’s construction down there now, but once it’s done, it’ll add an enhancement for the students and the residents to hang out,” said Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill.
The city teamed up with MaxxSouth Broadband to provide the expanded free wi-fi service.
The coverage area stretches down Main Street from City Hall to Jackson Street.
This is just one project the city and MaxxSouth have worked on together.
“We brought fiber here first across all our footprint. It was important to us make sure we were continuing to expand how we connect this community to the world, so public Wi-Fi is apart of that strategy,” said HeidiJoy Harnegie, the general manager and vice president of MaxxSouth.
The project is funded by Mississippi’s Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility.
BEAM awarded Starkville 43,000 dollars for the project.
“I think this makes our state and this area more connected, more responsive to the needs of our communities,” said Sally Doty with the BEAM office.
Some main street businesses agree it will bring more foot traffic.
“I think it’s great thing because we need to attract more people on main street,” said Cornelius Edmond.
TJ Manna is the owner of Proof Micro Bakery in Downtown Starkville.
“I do have customers that come in and like to study and also just log in for whatever reason, so it’s really nice to know that that’s an option for them… I think they’ll be happy about it,” said Manna.
Although she has guest Wi-Fi already for her customers, she said the extra service helps.
“When there is a lot of people here for my customers and there’s a lot of people logged (on) to one Wi-Fi, it does tend to go slower. So, I think it will help in that way as well,” said Manna.
The free service will show as “Public Wi-Fi by Maxx South” when you’re in the area.
Four to six routers and other devices are located throughout downtown.
“It’s kind of like boosters throughout this core area down this street, and so we put it in strategic locations on buildings and on poles to make sure that it’s super fast,” said Harnegie.
Each person can only use the network one hour at a time.
Maxx South said they will be installing free public Wi-Fi to seven communities this year.
Starkville was the first.
