Posted on Aug 23, 2022
Fed up with poor broadband access, he started his own fiber internet service provider
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https://www.npr.org/2022/08/22/ [login to see] /michigan-man-isp-fiber-internet
Long before the pandemic forced many office workers to depend on their home internet, Jared Mauch had been working from home for about two decades.
When he moved to Scio Township in 2002, an area in rural Michigan not far from Ann Arbor, his employer set him up with a great home internet connection — many of his neighbors at the time were still stuck with sluggish dial-up.
After a while, though, his bandwidth couldn't keep up with his tech job and his growing family.
But when he started shopping around, he wasn't happy with his options. The internet speeds from AT&T were painfully slow. Comcast wanted to charge him an up-front fee of $50,000 to expand service to his home. He opted for a third route.
Rather than shell out that kind of money only to depend on the whims of an internet service provider, the 46-year-old decided to create his own fiber ISP.
"I had every reason to believe that I would be able to execute and perform a lot of these pieces of it, and most likely be more able to bring the service to the community than, you know, a large company," he told NPR. "I saw it as an excellent opportunity both to expand service and something I'm passionate about."
Long before the pandemic forced many office workers to depend on their home internet, Jared Mauch had been working from home for about two decades.
When he moved to Scio Township in 2002, an area in rural Michigan not far from Ann Arbor, his employer set him up with a great home internet connection — many of his neighbors at the time were still stuck with sluggish dial-up.
After a while, though, his bandwidth couldn't keep up with his tech job and his growing family.
But when he started shopping around, he wasn't happy with his options. The internet speeds from AT&T were painfully slow. Comcast wanted to charge him an up-front fee of $50,000 to expand service to his home. He opted for a third route.
Rather than shell out that kind of money only to depend on the whims of an internet service provider, the 46-year-old decided to create his own fiber ISP.
"I had every reason to believe that I would be able to execute and perform a lot of these pieces of it, and most likely be more able to bring the service to the community than, you know, a large company," he told NPR. "I saw it as an excellent opportunity both to expand service and something I'm passionate about."
Fed up with poor broadband access, he started his own fiber internet service provider
Posted from npr.org
Internet
Entrepreneurship
Telecommunications
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Building your own ISP isn't easy
In a presentation he uploaded to YouTube, Mauch offers a how-to guide of sorts on how he built an ISP for his community. But he warns that not everyone is cut out to do it.
"This is totally something that people can do. But I have a really unique set of skills that I think would make it incredibly challenging for somebody else to do this without having two or three different people," he said.
Before starting on this DIY venture, Mauch was already familiar with the inner-workings of ISPs. By day, he's a network architect at Akamai Technologies, where he helps companies get content like video streaming to their customers faster.
Building an ISP that would allow him those same services in his own home was an ambitious side project — an expensive one at that.
In all, Mauch says he's spent about $300,000 out of his own pocket building his service. But he says that he's signed up enough customers at this point that he's breaking even.
"My goal wasn't necessarily to make a lot of money doing this — but be able to connect people that really needed it," he said.
At the national level, access is still the first challenge. The FBA's Bolton says the next hurdle is making good internet affordable across the U.S.
As for Mauch, he usually charges about $200 for installation, with monthly rates starting at $65, according to his company website. Although inflation has hiked up the cost of materials, he says he tries to keep his prices fair. For now, he seems to be keeping his neighbors happy.
"I have so far lost zero customers," he said."
..."Building your own ISP isn't easy
In a presentation he uploaded to YouTube, Mauch offers a how-to guide of sorts on how he built an ISP for his community. But he warns that not everyone is cut out to do it.
"This is totally something that people can do. But I have a really unique set of skills that I think would make it incredibly challenging for somebody else to do this without having two or three different people," he said.
Before starting on this DIY venture, Mauch was already familiar with the inner-workings of ISPs. By day, he's a network architect at Akamai Technologies, where he helps companies get content like video streaming to their customers faster.
Building an ISP that would allow him those same services in his own home was an ambitious side project — an expensive one at that.
In all, Mauch says he's spent about $300,000 out of his own pocket building his service. But he says that he's signed up enough customers at this point that he's breaking even.
"My goal wasn't necessarily to make a lot of money doing this — but be able to connect people that really needed it," he said.
At the national level, access is still the first challenge. The FBA's Bolton says the next hurdle is making good internet affordable across the U.S.
As for Mauch, he usually charges about $200 for installation, with monthly rates starting at $65, according to his company website. Although inflation has hiked up the cost of materials, he says he tries to keep his prices fair. For now, he seems to be keeping his neighbors happy.
"I have so far lost zero customers," he said."
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