Southern Pine Electric is excited to announce a collaborative agreement with TEC, a technology company providing fiber internet to people in rural areas of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. TEC will bring fiber internet to many of Southern Pine’s members that are unserved or underserved. With an aggressive work schedule of ten years, TEC will bring innovative broadband, voice and security solutions to our members, communities, and businesses that lack access to true broadband services. After much study and analysis, Southern Pine’s board of directors made the difficult decision to not become a service provider of high-speed internet due to financial constraints that could threaten the stability of the cooperative and its members. While this decision ended Southern Pine’s consideration of becoming a service provider, it did not diminish the desire for Southern Pine to play an active role in securing connectivity for our members.
Through the announcement of this collaboration, Southern Pine’s board of directors and management team has made true on the promise to pursue a sound broadband solution that protects our members’ ownership in Southern Pine. “I am proud that TEC, which is a company with deep roots in our state, recognizes what our members have to offer and is committed to improving their quality of life,” said Don Jordan, President and CEO of Southern Pine Electric. TEC, headquartered in Mississippi with a local office in Bay Springs, has been a leader in the ever-changing technology industry for close to a century. They have the ability and means to help our members and communities stay connected, informed, and secure through their many services and custom solutions. “This endeavor with Southern Pine is a natural fit for our company and our goal of keeping people connected. Both TEC and Southern Pine are committed to our service areas, our customers, and our employees. We look forward to bringing fast fiber internet where it truly is needed,” said Joseph Fail, President of TEC.
This will be an exciting project that will bring many opportunities to our area. It will require several years of hard work before completion, but the end-result will be well worth our efforts. With this need met, it will enable Southern Pine to place its sole focus and financial resources towards strengthening its electric infrastructure by improving service and reliability. You expect and deserve superior service and we aim to deliver. This is our home. What matters to you, matters to us. We want to keep families here. We want better jobs and more opportunities. You are important to us and we believe in giving back. This is just one more way that Southern Pine brings the power to our members. Members can visit southernpine.coop or TEC.com for more information or email voice@southernpine.coop if they have additional questions. Southern Pine Electric is a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative that distributes electricity to more than 65,500 members in 11 counties in central and south Mississippi. It is headquartered in Taylorsville and has offices in Brandon, Newton, Hattiesburg and New Hebron.
