T-Mobile Gives Northport $46K For Downtown Public WiFi

NORTHPORT, AL — The City of Northport and representatives from T-Mobile gathered Thursday morning to announce a $46,000 grant from the technology and communications company to help jumpstart a project that will bring free public WiFi to Historic Downtown Northport.

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As part of T-Mobile's Hometown Grant, Northport was one of 25 cities selected to receive the funding, which is to be used for community development projects.

T-Mobile Rural Market Manager Chris Ryan told Patch the overall effort is part of the company's commitment to expanding its offerings to underserved and rural areas.

Through 2026, Ryan said the company plans to provide $25 million in similar grants to locations across the country.

"We're excited to see how this helps benefit and bring the city forward and help serve our rural customers," he said.

City of Northport IT Director Scott Murphy told Patch the new WiFi will hopefully be available in the next six months, as the city and T-Mobile are currently partnering with C-Spire for internet connectivity on the project.

"We're going to provide high-speed public WiFi in the historic area from the Kentuck Museum through that Main Street area and back, essentially that whole bubble," he said.

Murphy then explained that the internet will come through the historic Shirley Place on Main Avenue and be broadcast out from there, which will also provide WiFi for the Friends of Historic Northport at the location.

"This will essentially kill two birds with one stone," he said. "And one of the issues with 5G technology, it has less penetration into structures, so we're hoping this WiFi will help overcome that so while people may not have as strong of a cell signal inside, we'll be able to provide a better signal with this WiFi."

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