Owatonna-based Jaguar Communications has partnered with five telephone companies in southern Minnesota, one in Iowa and Sioux Falls, S.D.-based SDN Communications to form a regional network.

“This partnership makes Jaguar Communications part of something bigger which will pay dividends in network solutions and efficiencies for business customers,” said Jaguar Communications CEO John Jensen.

Over the summer, Jaguar moved its Albert Lea location from Marshall Street to the corner of Newton Avenue and Clark Street.

The new network includes Blue Earth-based Bevcomm.

“The bigger the network, the more value to the end user,” said Bevcomm CEO Bill Eckles.

Businesses and institutions that need secure connections without using the general Internet are examples of what the communications companies service, Eckles said. That can be banks, hospitals and even wireless providers linking cellphone towers.

The new territory will stretch from Goodhue to the Twin Cities suburbs to Mankato and Rochester and into Iowa. SDN serves all of South Dakota and has partnerships into neighboring states.

Other partners in the deal are Houston, Minn.-based AcenTek, Kanawha, Iowa-based Communications 1 Network, Kasson-based KMTelecom, New Ulm-based NU-Telecom and Ruthton-based Woodstock Telephone.

“The companies are all independent telephone companies, like our owner-members,” said SDN Communication CEO Mark Shlanta. “They have seen how our South Dakota members and business customers have benefited, and they want to follow that successful model in their service areas.”

The agreement will require some fiber construction to interconnect all the companies with SDN. Construction is slated to start immediately. Once complete, that connectivity will be sold by SDN and will benefit businesses with multiple office locations.

“Banks are a good example,” Jensen said. “They have a home office and branch locations in many communities and need to share electronic data among all locations. When they can do that on one provider’s network, such as SDN, it not only becomes more affordable but easier to manage.”

Large carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon, similarly look for providers who can carry data traffic long distances on one, interconnected network, according to a Jaguar Communications press release.

Although SDN strictly serves businesses, it centralizes some residential products for its South Dakota owner companies, including long distance, cable television, Internet services and home surveillance technologies.

Communities served by Jaguar Communications:

Le Seuer, Adams, Albert Lea, Austin, Belle Plaine, Blooming Prairie, Byron, Cannon Falls, Carver, Chanhassen, Chaska, Claremont, Clarks Grove, Cologne, Dundas, Ellendale, Fairbault, Glenville, Hamburg, Hayfield, Hayward, Hope, Jordan, Kenyon, Lansing, LeRoy, Lyle, Madison Lake, Mankato, Mapleview, Mayer, Medford, New Germany, New Market, Northfield, Norwood, Oakland, Owatonna, Randolph, Rochester, Rose Creek, St. Peter, Stewartville, Taopi, Victoria, Waconia, Waltham

Waseca, Watertown, Waterville, Young America

Communities served by Bevcomm:

Blue Earth, Bay City, Wis., Bricelyn, Delavan, Easton, Exeland, Wis., Freeborn

Frost, Granada, Guckeen, Hager City, Wis., Huntley, Kiester, Minnesota Lake, Morristown, New Prague, Oronoco, Pine Island, Radisson, Wis., Wells, Weyerhaeuser, Wis., Winnebago