Under the contract terms, Mauch will provide 100Mbps symmetrical Internet with unlimited data for $55 a month and 1Gbps with unlimited data for $79 a month. Mauch said his installation fees are typically $199. Unlike many larger ISPs, Mauch provides simple bills that contain a single line item for Internet service and no extra fees.

Mauch also committed to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides subsidies of $30 a month for households that meet income eligibility requirements.

The contract requires all project expenses to be incurred by the end of 2024, and for the project to be completed by the end of 2026. But Mauch aims for a much quicker timeline, telling Ars that his “goal is to build about half of it by the end of this year and the other half by the end of 2023.” The exact funding amount is $2,618,958.03.

Comcast wanted $50K, AT&T offers just 1.5Mbps

Operating an ISP isn’t Mauch’s primary job, as he is still a network architect at Akamai. He started planning to build his own network about five years ago after being unable to get modern service from any of the major ISPs.

As we wrote last year, AT&T only offers DSL with download speeds up to 1.5Mbps at his home. He said Comcast once told him it would charge $50,000 to extend its cable network to his house—and that he would have gone with Comcast if they only wanted $10,000. Comcast demands those up-front fees for line extensions when customers are outside its network a