The Mankato Free Press reports on new fiber going into Mankato, which will bring better broadband and a new provider to the area. It’s a public-private partnership between Blue earth County and Jaguar Communications that won’t cost the taxpayers more money. It’s a good example of looking at everyone’s assets (including expertise) and coming up with a win-win solution.

Here’s the scoop on the fiber…

The agreement will involve installing underground about 7 miles of fiber optic communication infrastructure along a “south fiber ring” from the far eastern edge of Mankato, south along Highway 22, west along Stadium Road and to downtown along Stoltzman Road and Riverfront Drive. Fiber, which allows large amounts of data to be transmitted at very high speeds, is already in place from downtown to the far east side along a “north fiber route” that runs mostly along Marsh Street and Madison Avenue.

Like the north fiber route, the new fiber installation was spurred by local governments with the help of the state of Minnesota. The governments’ interest involves connecting most city, county and state buildings with a ring of fiber optic cable, which will create a backup route for communications even if either the northern or southern cable is accidentally severed or otherwise disrupted.

Another government fiber route runs along Victory Drive from the far northeastern edge of Mankato to Balcerzak Drive to Minnesota State University.

Government buildings along the ring include the county Justice Center at the eastern city limits of Mankato, the county highway department off of Stadium Road, the courthouse and county Government Center on Fifth Street, the city public works center at Victory and Hoffman Road, the city Public Safety Center on Front Street, the MSU campus, the Intergovernmental Center (which includes city and school district offices), city fire stations and state offices in Mankato Place downtown.

The cost saving for the state (aka investment for Jaguar)…

Unlike the previous projects, the construction of the south fiber ring won’t cost taxpayers a penny.

“They’ll build that entire south ring for us for free,” Storm said of Jaguar Communications.

The value of the work has been estimated at $450,000.

While Jaguar is placing fiber for the local governments, it also will be laying parallel fiber of its own that the company will use to enter the Mankato private sector telecommunications marketplace.

“Jaguar really wants to get down into the downtown area,” Storm said. “… It’s going to open up more competition for everybody.”

The company also will provide maintenance of the system over a 20-year contract approved by the council and county board this week. Charlie Berg, Storm’s counterpart at Blue Earth County, said the value of the maintenance services provided by Jaguar is roughly $30,000 a year, which means it would approach $600,000 in value over the length of the contract.

And part of the potential ROI for Jaguar…

“In exchange for (installing and maintaining the south ring), they’ll be granted ownership of one of the empty pipes in the north route,” Berg said of Jaguar, which will be a new player in local telecommunications. “… Basically, what this does is give them a direct route right into the heart of downtown Mankato.”

And the county’s unique approach to a solution…

The city and county used a nontraditional approach to reaching the deal with Jaguar. Rather than the standard bidding process, where private companies offer to do a job for a certain dollar amount and the lowest qualified bid wins, a request for proposals was issued.

“You pose a problem and say, ‘Vendors, how would you solve this problem?'” Berg said.