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Connecting 901: Smart Memphis Fiber Build Out
I’ve been thinking about a Memphis where your ZIP code doesn’t determine whether a child can finish homework, a senior can connect with family, or a worker can access a job. Because reliable broadband is no longer a luxury. It is a pathway to education, employment, health care, and opportunity.
That is the Memphis we are building: a city where every family can get online, every entrepreneur can reach customers, and every resident has the tools to participate fully in our economy and community.
Just a few years ago, fewer than 25% of Memphians had access to fiber internet, mostly in higher-income areas. A family’s choices too often depended on their ZIP code, because internet companies tended to build where they expected the greatest return, while most federal funding to expand broadband focused on rural areas.
Those practices left neighborhoods in cities like Memphis caught in the middle, and we needed to find a way to bring in private investment and make sure it reached more of our neighbors.
So, the City reduced the cost of building fiber in Memphis, requiring that the new investment reach across the city, including low-income neighborhoods. And on April 30, 2024, we broke ground on a privately financed network designed to pass at least 85% of Memphis homes and businesses, including 85% in low-income communities.
The project represents more than $700 million in planned private investment. So far, the network has passed about 80,000 homes and businesses. The next goal is about 160,000 by the third quarter of 2027, with more than 300,000 addresses expected in the full buildout.
The partnership also secured dedicated fiber for the City and 116 anchor sites across Memphis. As we bring these sites online, they can support public Wi-Fi and other services in places our neighbors already use.
Connecting 901 launches at Orange Mound Community Center on Oct. 2
On Friday, Oct. 2, we will launch Connecting 901 at the Orange Mound Community Center. This is a first step toward making sure Memphis families have the tools they need to learn, work, communicate, and participate fully in the life of our city.
The new fiber connects the Orange Mound Community Center, Library, and Melrose Stadium as one connected community corridor where residents can access faster internet, public Wi-Fi, and computers. The event will kick off at 3 p.m. with a tour of the new youth and senior technology labs and a computer training session connecting high school seniors with senior citizens. That evening, during Melrose Senior Night, we will demonstrate the new public Wi-Fi.
I am especially proud that this work is beginning in Orange Mound.
Because when a student can finish an assignment, a senior can connect with family, or a worker can apply for a job from home, technology becomes a bridge to opportunity.
We have made progress bringing fiber to more Memphis streets, because we believe that access to opportunity should never depend on your ZIP code. Connecting 901 moves us closer to a Memphis where every resident can connect, grow, and thrive.
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