Sponsored Links

Starting an Internet Provider

Micky007

Casual Member
Hello,

There's an small Alt network operator based near me which has recently installed FTTP broadband in the area. I feel I can get more households connected to their network as not many people know about them.

I don't want to work for them as I'm happy with my current job, but instead I'd like to start my own FTTP broadband provider using their network, services, technicians and tech support.

Is there a term used within this industry which allows someone to sell broadband using their own company/brand, but I utilise the infrastructure of an existing network provider?

Does anyone have any experience of this or tried to do something similar?

Thanks.
 
You'd be looking at wholesale broadband options. Or possibly some kind of reseller agreement if you want to make your life a bit easier.

As you go deeper down the rabbit hole you'll probably find that it's not as easy as you thought, nor is it viable especially if you want to only handle sales and not things like the tech support which will be costly for you to outsource.
 
You've piqued my interest... if you're happy with your current job and don't want to go around and drum up connections for the incumbent small player, how would the potential scenario to run your own ISP using others infrastructure on a wholesale basis work?

If the network has not been set up to operate as a wholesale network you might be disappointed to find that it's not just a turnkey thing to enable. For example Virgin Media have been making noises about opening up their network on a wholesale basis for best part of a decade, actually made a formal market announcement a few weeks ago, but details are still sparse and (my guess) it probably relates only to their new built from the ground up FTTP network which is barely live. If it takes someone like Liberty Global (Virgin) that long you can start to guess it's not simple to unbundle a direct sales network to be wholesale in a sustainable and supportable way.
 
Sponsored Links
Does anyone have any experience of this or tried to do something similar?
Is it Freedom Fibre? have you got a contact with someone who works there? Always a good start to try speak to someone of significance.

We were looking at this option (although not with Freedom Fibre) a we do Wi-Fi upgrades etc anyway so the option of supplying broadband as an all-in-one solution under wholesale or reseller agreement but its not straightforward as you might think.
 
Selling internet is harder than you think. I have been unofficially promoting Community Fibre in my street just as a way to support them and Altnets in general and I had very little success in getting people to sign up despite them being way cheaper and offering a much better product. On one side only us geeks get excited by full fibre, low latency and symmetric speeds. For most people these are things have no value as they don't understand them or don't think they need them. Getting people to change and look for other options is also hard. People are afraid of change, they think this one is OK if I go somewhere else it might be worse, better to stay where I am. Of course there are always people that get it and those jumped to CF pretty quickly but after that it's not been great adoption. Openreach has caught up and upgraded our street on top of VM having 1Gb for few years so there are too many options now...
 
Is there a term used within this industry which allows someone to sell broadband using their own company/brand, but I utilise the infrastructure of an existing network provider?
It's called "White Labelling", or simply "Reselling". Lots of it going on. Some smaller fibre providers use this as their main business model: ITS is an example.

Depending on the business relationship you have agreed with the network, you might still be the first point of contact for the end-user, and you might need to bill each end-user directly (i.e. the network sends you a single aggregate bill for all the lines you are providing)

If you don't want to do that, then the other option is working on a "referral" or "commission" basis: you sign up a customer, you get some sort of kick-back, and then you never deal with the customer again. Taking this to the limit you end up with a Tupperware-style pyramid selling scheme, where you get money for signing up new resellers as well as new customers. I believe Utility Warehouse operates that way.
 
I feel I can get more households connected to their network as not many people know about them.
What’s your value add? If you’re simply outsourcing all technical aspects, other than getting them to sign up, what service are you actually providing? Why would one want to go through you rather than direct to them? This alone sounds more like you just want an advertising campaign.

IMO, adding another “middle man” just makes it worse for the customer.
 
Sponsored Links
Might be worth asking if they have a referral scheme, you might get free internet or a small amount per customer. All without support and business overheads
 
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £24.00 - 26.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £24.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £25.99
145Mbps
Gift: £50 Reward Card
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £17.00
200Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (6024)
  2. BT (3639)
  3. Politics (2720)
  4. Business (2439)
  5. Openreach (2405)
  6. Building Digital UK (2330)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2144)
  8. FTTC (2083)
  9. Statistics (1899)
  10. 4G (1814)
  11. Virgin Media (1763)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1582)
  13. Fibre Optic (1467)
  14. Wireless Internet (1462)
  15. 5G (1405)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules