In the United States, a man started his own internet service provider
In the United States, a man started his own internet service provider to connect an underserved village. And now you have to significantly expand your range.
Jared Mauch, a resident of Michigan, USA, was in a difficult spot when it came to Internet coverage. He could settle for AT&T’s excruciatingly slow speeds or pay Comcast $50,000 to extend service to his village. The man decided on a third option: to start his own internet provider. Today, it’s expanding its service, increasing it from 70 to almost 600 customers thanks to financial aids that Ars Technica says are aimed precisely at expanding access to high-speed internet.
In the United States, a man started his own internet service provider
Last year the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds of the US government, Washtenaw County in Michigan had provided $71 million for infrastructure projects, part of which was for broadband expansion. Jared Mauch won a tender to connect households “that, according to a study, are known to be unsupplied or undersupplied,” according to the tender.
“They had this RFP, and with my own profound stupidity or genius, I don’t know yet, I responded to this RFP [dans ma zone] and I managed to win,” he told Ars Technica.
It now needs to extend its fiber from 14 to about 52 miles (22.5 to 83.7 km) to complete the project, including some homes requiring up to 800 meters of fiber. It will cost $30,000 for each of these houses, but installation costs are usually $199.
This to connect a village that is undersupplied
Customers can choose a plan for $55 per month for 100Mbps symmetric throughput or 1Gbps with unlimited data for $79 per month. The contract provides for the infrastructure to be completed by 2026, but Jared Mauch hopes for completion by the end of 2023. He has already connected some of the addresses concerned, which earned him an article in the local press after the first household was connected last June. A local delegate described this project as a “transformational moment for [la] community”.
And now you have to significantly expand your range
Running an ISP isn’t even Jared Mauch’s job. Our guy is typically a network architect for Akamai. Despite this, its service has become indispensable in the region, even serving as a fiber optic connection for a major mobile operator. “I’m definitely better known than any of my neighbors… I’m on people’s phones as ‘Fiber Guy,'” he says.
