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Industry_Pro
@comcast.net
thumbs down from:
Andrew J 
| WISP's: Don't do it!
Note to Wisp's from someone who has been there in a wholesale/retail wireless ISP deal - don't do it. TelJet will think it owns your customers. It's their network. You will find yourself on the short end of the stick at every turn. You will be unable to do anything because they can just move your customers to another ISP at the flick of a keyboard. You will find yourself expected to bear all the costs of collections and support while recieving only 1/2 the revenue (maybe).
Let's say you have a billing dispute. Who wins? TelJet
Service dispute? Refund for lost customer/bad service? Who wins? TelJet
You want to take your customers and leave? Oh, but TelJet will call personally on YOUR customers and tell them it's easier for them just to switch to TelJet's favored ISP partner of the moment.
Don't do it. Let TelJet have teljet's customers. THey will never, ever really be your customers while you are using TelJet's network. Build your own network and compete with teljet and it's ISP's - you should be able to easily undercut a wholesale/retail operation with a straight integrated provider that has it's own network. No way there is margin in there for two companies if competition comes in.
You heard it here on DSL Reports first!
Industry_Pro | |
Industry_Pro
@comcast.net
| hyBTW,
I forgot to mention to the wisp's considering this wholesale/retail deal - YOU will be blamed by your users for all of TelJet's service problems and startup/growth issues. Customers may very well get fed up with your complete inability to do anything to fix their service, improve network performance, or generally do anything, since it's not your network to work on. TelJet will be mixing the traffic from several ISP's together on one network - that's GUARANTEED to cause routing problems and unneccessary complexity to the network. YOU will take the blame for this and here is the really disgusting part of a deal like this. If your users get mad at you because you can't fix TelJet's problems - they will switch to another ISP *ON TELJET* and teljet will simply screw you and continue to recieve the same income they recieved before. It won't matter to TelJet what ISP a customer is on - they make the same money no matter what. They will make it so easy for customers to switch, that no ISP has anything at all keeping customers with them and TelJet makes money no matter what your churn is.
Primarily realize that a shaky deal like this won't last more than a few years. Once an integrated provider moves in they will take prices down to a level where there is not room for two companies to make margin on an account.
You have to ask yourself as an ISP, "Why does TelJect want to do things this wholesale way? Why not take the customers themselves?"
AHH! But that's the thing. To them, they ARE taking all the customers themselves. They just get YOU the dummy wannabe WISP, to take on all the customer acquisition cost (advertising/marketing/sales), you take all the risk (betcha anything the agreement says you still owe teljet even if the customer defaults), and you do the most difficult and frustrating part of the industry, support for novice end users. TelJet just sits back and takes gravy money for running a couple of access points and routers with no real hard recurring costs and minimal risk. You get 1/2 or less of the money and every customer you bring TelJet will end up being THEIR customer, NOT YOURS. They can switch customers to another ISP on their network with a couple of config lines.
Don't do it, WISP's - I've been there - IT'S A TRAP - and you will end up sorry you got involved. It's their network, let them run it themselves. You build and run your own network. Going with this wholesale/retail model is a formula for disputes and doom and it can't, ultimately, last.
It's their network. That says all a smart business person needs to know, really. I wish I had listened to my inner voice in 1998 on my first wireless wholesale/retail deal!!
Industry_Pro | |
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