Hey folks, I'm trying to draw on the knowledge of fellow Seekers. My friend and I have been seriously researching going into the business of installing FTTH (Fiber to the Home) networks in towns that have shitty telecoms. Does anyone know of any towns (that you lived in, have family/friends in, etc.) that is just furious at their telecom options? We are scouting out towns right now. We're not advertising, we don't have a formal corporation yet, we're just trying to get ideas to see how feasible this is.

Also, with enough customers (say 3,000 residential and 500 business) we could profitably provide 10MBps symmetrical service for $50/month.

Furthermore, we would need a great network guy. So if you or anyone you know is interested in taking a chance on a start-up ISP, shoot me a PM.

I would definitely pay for it

If I lived on my own, I would def pay for it.

Just small towns? Hell, I live in St. Louis and I'd pay for it. Charter is a joke and DSL isn't available at my house.

Right of way in small towns probably involves less lawyering

I'd drop embarq in a heartbeat for it.

Most def here.

If you're actually dead serious, I know a thing or two about networking.

Yeah, dead serious. We're attending sessions at carrier hotels across the country and are signing up for a 4 day technician course in laying fiber networks in March (we don't want to be the kind of managers that don't have a clue what the technicians do).

The kicker to this whole idea is that we're pursuing open fiber networks. We would run and lease the fiber to ISP's. Obviously less profit than owning it and running it yourself, but that's not our goal. However, we would own an ISP as well to make sure that there would always be competition in the area. Check out this: http://utopianet.org/ Now, apply that to the private sector. They provide 50 MBps symmetrical for $60/month on that network. In the middle of Utah. Holy fuck.

Fuck yes I'd pay that for that!

^Can I say that? I hope so, cus I mean it. lol

Good luck. FCC, etc.

Bigger problem is the town councils themselves. Non-open fiber networks have been put in place in medium sized towns for a while by small companies.

Living in dorms right now, but looking to buy a place this summer, next year, etc. Id probably be willing to pay more for that kind of connection, (house with a couple people = bigger budget)

I would not only pay for it, I'd kill a man for it.

My business partner and I have been researching day and night to find out why it hasn't been implemented. Japan and Sweden have done it. Why can't we find an investor to capitalize on the fact that when this gets going, it's going to spread like wildfire across the U.S.?

Japan & Sweeden also have very different cultures, geography, and population density compared to the US.
Their cultures are much more friendly towards the internet, and the need for speed; while most of America (with some exceptions) is still getting over the notion that there's no difference in broadband speeds. I know of plenty of people who think as long as it's faster than dial-up, its alright. So we're dealing with a problematic mindset from the consumers that ISPs are going to listen to.
They also are much smaller countries with more people in less space. The size means that backbone costs less. Imagine if you only had to provide backbone from St. Louis to Chicago instead of something like this or this. Cost goes way down. Pop density means you make more profits. The last 10,000 feet are really expensive, and if you can run 1 line to a neighborhood with thousands of people instead of a few dozen - income goes up.

There is some critical density & size, though that a city should be able to have FTTN or FTTH. Right now AT&T is working on getting FTTN for a very large number of people (in most of their major metropolitian areas). Verizon is doing FTTH, but they're doing it in the densest of areas (ie New York). Cable companies have had a monopoly for years on coax - and have literally been scamming the country on overpriced, outdated technology (and they aren't bothering to upgrade their networks - so fuck them). I'm also going to blame the federal & local governments for trying to be too involved with the telecoms - they've been trying to regulate & tax them forever - while they let the sneaky cable companies slide by almost unnoticed.

I wish I had a better reason for why everyone seemed to be dragging their feet, because fiber to every home is definitely feasible. Although not as cheap as those flunkies who used to send out chain mail used to claim - no way socializing every ISP and making them put fiber to every door stop in America. is feasible for $20/month.