Security Schmurity :)
The provider gave me a mini-dish outside and radio receiver. I already had a NIC card, but I could have purchased and installed one for under $50 myself, if I needed to. I don't remember the brand names, but I could post them later.
The need I would be attempting to satisfy (very low barriers to entry and all) is that most of the professionals I know can not get broadband access, and all live in highly populated areas.
Think of metro loops, if the fiber doesn't go into your building, you are not on-net with that carrier. They can go type 2 (using another carrier to terminate the access into your building) but then the business either isn't profitable for the selling carrier or the price point is too high for the customer.
Up until one month ago, I was off-net for every single carrier on the planet for broadband service. Now I am on-net with a single wireless provider. I see a first mover advantage here and need a pretty small base of clients to make my money back. I was talking to a friend of mine and he was saying that he wanted to upgrade his office internet connection to a DS-1 from a frac-t. The port alone was going to cost him $700 and add another $700 for the local loop. If I can oversubscribe just 3-1, I can pay for most of my operation (I think I'll do 100-1 :) )
As for competition, yes, there is going to be a ton at some point, I am not seeing it currently though. That's why it's important to lock customers into multi year deals (like I got locked into).
I don't think that most people are waiting for a free internet connection, I think they are waiting for ANY internet connection. If they want a connection for free, they are going to be waiting for a long long time. Also, most people do not know someone that is creating a guerilla wireless network and I'm thinking the people that will participate in that type of action is not my target market. Most of what I have read on those type of networks indicates they have less than 20 subscribers per network. |
