Our lives are dependent on the internet from the beginning of the day until the end. Be it for fun purposes, work, or entertainment purposes, the internet is in high demand as never before. Any service or product having high demand means greater revenue. If you look at different service providers like Spectrum, Xfinity, Cox, and Mediacom, all of them are yielding high profits. We are not going into details about the quality of services, the speed offered, and pricing. Just assume the estimated customers on any one of the plans offered by these ISPs. Multiply the figure with the base price and that is what they are getting each month only on one plan.
Providing internet service is lucrative and cannot see a slump soon. Therefore, if you are willing to invest hugely, but do not have an idea on what to invest on then starting your ISP is going to be profitable. In this post, we are going to look at how you can start your ISP in the United States. Let us get started:
In this article
Find a Suitable Area and Location
The first thing you need to do is to find the area or space where you can set up your data center. The ideal location for any data center is on top of a building. The higher the building, the more the signals will travel quickly. Keep in mind that the data center will also require fiber internet cables to start and run your service. If the data center is not near fiber lines, you need to pay a hefty amount to the ISP for installation. To avoid hefty investment, take more time to find a suitable area that has a good fiber connection.
Search High Spots for Installing Relays
The point of searching high spots and installing a relay is to transmit signals from data centers to end-user. Hunt for the neighborhood area to sport potential area to lease. For instance, you can look for tall buildings, towers, mountains, homes, and hills to install a relay. Check these areas in person for a good view.
Negotiate Rent with Owners
Setting up everything requires space and you have to be a good negotiator to set up the entire infrastructure. Hunt down for property owners by searching online or visiting them in person. After negotiating, take permission from them to install ISP equipment. Be ready to pay anywhere from $500 to $1000 per month. You can negotiate better by offering the owners free internet. This would help you save thousands of dollars each month.
Set up Fiber Connection
Find upstream companies in your area and compare prices to get an average. Make sure to look for a service that functions at 1 GB per second. This will help you serve internet service to approximately 500-800 customers. The entire setup requires at least three months and fiber service can cost you anywhere from $1000 to $3000.
If you cannot find a place that has fiber cable service, you need to contact an internet provider to help you run data cables to the data center. This would cost you approximately $15000 or more. The majority of internet service providers have 2 to 5 upstream connections to offer consistent and fast service.
Buy Access Point Equipment
Count the number of relay locations and start shopping for switches and routers. The equipment will allow internet users to connect to your network. Keep in mind that switches are less costly than routers. However, routers have more advanced features.
Purchase Customer Premises Equipment
Customer Premises Equipment or CPE is fixed on the customer’s rooftop where it can be connected to the nearest access point switch or router. Keep in mind that every customer needs to have Customer Premises Equipment to connect to your newly established internet service. The CPE connects to a router or switches inside the customer’s home.
Choose Wireless Backhauls to Spread Signals
Wireless backhauls allow customers to connect to relay points. It spreads data from your customer to your network.
Track Your Network with Customer Management Software
A good internet service provider has everything in hand to offer optimal and seamless customer service. For instance, if you have used the internet at home, you might have an idea of how things are managed by ISP, from providing friendly customer support to tracking data usage and sending bills to answering queries. All of this requires good Customer Management Software. You can find plenty of CMS online that available for free and paid. However, going for a paid one allows you to have more features and customize it according to your requirements.
Summing Up
If you are thinking of starting your ISP in the United States, make sure to have enough backup to survive until you have attracted a huge chunk of internet users. Setting up an ISP requires heavy investment, but the return on it will be hugely beneficial in the future.