American network operator C Spire has opened the first phase of a US$23 million data center in Starkville, Mississippi.

The Tier III+ facility offers 23,800 sq ft of server space for colocation, cloud, storage and disaster recovery services.

The company hopes this venture will help bring new investment and opportunities to the region.

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C Spire (formerly Cellular South) is the largest privately held wireless communications provider in the US, with about 1,200,000 subscribers. The company also sells cloud services to enterprise customers.

Its latest data center is located at the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park in Starkville - a low-risk geographic zone. Construction of the first phase began in November 2013, and finished ahead of schedule.

The Starkville data center is directly connected to C Spire’s ring-protected fiber network, and enjoys 24/7 local support.

C Spire Says this is the only facility of its class in a 250-mile radius, while local officials from Starkville and Oktibbeha County call it the largest private sector development in the region’s history.

“Our center is purpose-built with world-class solutions for the complex data, storage and cloud service needs of our customers,” said Brian Caraway, SVP of Enterprise Markets for C Spire. “Our customers can rest easy knowing their data is safe and secure and that business continuity is safeguarded.”

C Spire currently operates two other data centers in Mississippi – one in Ridgeland and another in downtown Jackson.