MADISON — Representatives from Breland Companies and WOW! joined local officials today to announce a unique partnership between Town Madison and WOW!.

With WOW! as the preferred provider for the new development, the future residents and businesses of Town Madison will be part of North Alabama’s first completely fiber-connected Gig+ community.

“To have a world-class community today, you must have a world-class connectivity and internet service,” said Louis Breland, Town Madison developer. “We are committed to providing innovative, cutting-edge technology to Town Madison residents and visitors, and WOW! is the perfect partner for bringing this new connected community to life.”

Breland said they met with multiple providers, but it was ultimately WOW!’s service offerings, fiber-to-home solutions and customer service that sealed the deal.

“A best-in-class community like Town Madison needs the correct technology solutions to provide advanced products and capabilities for tenants and residents for today and into the future,” said Philip Himel, vice president of product for WOW!, who traveled to Madison for the announcement. “WOW! offers these competitive communication services coupled with strikingly responsive and personalized support.”

Philip Himel describes the various service options that will be available to Town Madison residents and businesses. (Record Photo/Kendyl Hollingsworth)

Himel said WOW! currently has more than 40,000 miles of fiber and coax network providing services to residents and businesses in more than 300 communities across 10 states.

“For Town Madison, WOW! is building a state-of-the-art fiberoptic network that is going to be safe, secure and explosively fast,” he added. For residents, WOW! will provide services that include interactive video programming on their Ultra platform. With this, residents will be able to pause, rewind and fast-forward live TV and store up to 300 hours of video on a whole-home DVR. This will also allow residents to pick up the same programming from any TV in the home.

In addition to the whole-home DVR, Himel also said residents will have access to low-cost home phone service and high-speed internet up to one gigabit with no data limits. Whole-home Wi-Fi, a mesh network that blankets the entire home and eliminates dead spots, will also be an option.

Businesses in Town Madison will be given a variety of package options to suit their unique needs, according to Himel. Internet speeds will be available ranging anywhere from 10 megabits to 10 gigabits per second, and several add-ons will be available as well. Himel added that businesses will also have a wide range of voice service options, including business lines, PRI and SIP trunking to connect the business to the Public Switched Telephone Network, and a Hosted VoIP, which is a cloud-based and “fully robust telephone service,” according to Himel.

A wide range of video options will also be available for different experiences. “Whether you want a private experience for, say, your waiting rooms or for your employees, or bar and restaurant packages where you need some broader programming options, or even the full service capabilities of the hospitality sector, WOW! is prepared, and we will deliver,” Himel said.

Finley explains the importance of communication at the partnership announcement. (Record Photo/Kendyl Hollingsworth)

“Today is a really special day for the City of Madison as we continue to have great announcements that make a difference for our community,” said Madison Mayor Paul Finley. He emphasized the City’s focus on communication to help the Madison community become more invested. “With a greenfield-type area where you can come in, and someone can make a major investment when it comes to the communication side of things, we are very excited to be in a position to support Louis Breland and his team at Town Madison with (the partnership) to improve and make a positive impact on communication in Town Madison and throughout the Tennessee Valley.”

Dale Strong thanks the WOW! team for their partnership with Town Madison. (Record Photo/Kendyl Hollingsworth)

Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong expressed his own excitement about the partnership and what it could mean for Town Madison and the city as a whole. “I think we’re starting something great, and the vision of Breland Companies understanding what the demands of today are is obvious, but you look at what’s going on here, and I think that this is just the start of a great thing,” he said.

Strong thanked the WOW! team for understanding the needs of Madison County and developing an opportunity to propel the region forward. With the $42 million stadium that will become home to a double-A baseball team and “more than 800,000 square feet” of retail and commercial space, Strong added that Town Madison will become a destination location.

“Now is the time, Madison is the place, and together we’ll be very successful,” Strong said.

Town Madison is a mixed-use development that will span more than 560 acres in Madison along Interstate-565. According to a news release from Breland Companies, Town Madison will feature more than one million square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment venues and 700,000 square feet of office space. In addition, 700 new hotel rooms will allow for visitors to stay in Madison when they come to experience what the development has to offer. Announced projects include the Trash Pandas baseball stadium, 280 units of luxury apartments, 300 single-family homes and several hotels: Margaritaville, Home2Suites, Hilton Garden Inn and Avid. Finley also announced plans in last month’s State of the City address for “Pro Player Park,” a 12-field baseball complex.

For more information on Town Madison, visit townmadison.com. For more on WOW!, visit wowway.com.