Fiber-based triple-play services provider MetroNet will now serve customers in Minnesota with the acquisition of Owatonna, MN-based Jaguar Communications. The gigabit fiber-optic internet company serves Owatonna, Mankato, Rochester, and other Minnesota communities. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, MetroNet has pledged to spend at least $150 million to further expand its footprint in the state.
Founded in 1999, Jaguar Communications operates in Carver, Scott, Dakota, Nicollett, Le Sueur, Rice, Blue Earth, Waseca, Steele, Dodge, Olmstead, Freeborn, and Mower counties in Minnesota via a 2,000-mile fiber-optic network ring. MetroNet says it plans to leverage Jaguar’s fiber network to provide these markets with MetroNet’s products. The two companies are expected to fully integrate under the MetroNet brand over the next few months and integrate all MetroNet product line features in early 2021.
“Jaguar Communications shares our vision of providing customer-focused, fiber-optic telecommunication services to homes and businesses,” said MetroNet President John Cinelli. “As we grow our fiber-optic network in Minnesota, Jaguar Communications is a perfect fit. We look forward to fully integrating as a company, and we welcome them into the MetroNet family.”
MetroNet began operations in 2005 with a fiber-optic network in Greencastle, IN. It now serves more than 80 communities across Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Florida. This is not its first acquisition (see, for example, "MetroNet Fiber expands into Michigan with LightSpeed Fiber acquisition").
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