From Staff Reports/MS
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE —
Some residents in the central and northern parts of Pearl River County may have noticed work being conducted in their areas by AT&T, work that may mean access to high speed Internet in more areas.
DSL, or “digital subscriber line,” service is being expanded in this county, according to a press release from AT&T, through a $53 million statewide investment that was the result of Federal Communications Commission reforms to the Universal Service Fund. Most of those funds will be used to expand access to broadband Internet service, the release states.
Work in this county will provide residents who live outside of the county’s two municipalities with access to DSL Internet service, which involves Internet download speeds that top out at 6 megabytes per second.
AT&T declined to say exactly how many homes or what areas in Pearl River County would now have access to broadband Internet service, saying in a response by e-mail, “We don’t want to get specific for competitive reasons — however we will be expanding in areas where we previously did not have service. Not every place in the County, but access will be noticeably increased.” The release does state the work will provide access to more than 30,000 homes statewide by installing 170 new sites at more than 60 wire centers.
The work is expected to be complete by the end of the year and customers can call the company’s 1-800 number or check the website at att.com to see if broadband Internet service will be available in their area, the release states.
Other areas in or around the cities currently have access to the company’s top tier service, U-Verse. Internet speeds offered through the U-Verse service can top 24 megabytes a second. That service also offers customers access to a television service and home phone service.
