ISP-Planet recently featured (Jaguar Communications’ Rural Fiber Network) a Minnesota-based company, Jaguar Communications.

Jaguar is a local ISP that provides (according to their web site) Local, Long Distance, and DSL service to (the article talks about the fiber service they provide but I didn’t find descriptions on their web site yet:
• Albert Lea
• Austin
• Blooming Prairie
• Chatfield
• Faribault
• Glenville
• Northfield
• Owatonna
• Rochester
• St. Charles
• Stewartville
• Waseca

According to the article, Jaguar just connected the first customers in a rural network that will deliver the same triple play services (voice, TV, and data) that customers can already get in the major cities. In 2006, they received a $4,641,000 USDA Rural Development loan.

The article does a good job of detailing the process that Jaguar founder, Donny Smith, went through to the process he went to start his company and the challenges he ran into with incumbent providers when he was providing phone service and later when trying to lay fiber, which he started in 2001.

I love the story of their first fiber customer:

The first residential customer was connected to fiber in August of 2006, Smith says. “This customer had no copper lines to their home and the phone company wanted $30,000 to hook up the line in winter, so fiber from us cost less.”

Sadly these insane fees seem all to commonplace in rural areas.

Apparently service costs $119.99 per month for: local calling, numerous phone features, 3.0 Mbps / 768 Kbps internet, 5 e-mail addresses, anti-spam and anti-virus, and 80 channels of digital TV. Installation of fiber from curb to the home however is $600 with a 1-year contract; it’s free with a 5-year contract.

Visit the article for more information on the network plan and even a list of equipment they use. Smith provides a lot of detail on the technology – for those who like tech details.