How the Internet works

[nihil]

Perhaps it might be useful to look at how things work in the UK, for private users at least?

The first thing you do is connect your modem to your telephone line. This is "owned" by your Telco, or is rented from the infrastructure owner by your Telco. This is the same for 56.6 dial up and for ADSL, even though they use different resources.

You connect to your ISP via this telephone line, and from them to the internet.

So, you use the Telcos resources and the ISP's. Both expect to be paid for this in some way or another.

OK the normal practice in the UK these days is to rent a package that covers both your telephone and your broadband.

Back in the days of 56.6 dial-up there were a variety of packages.

1. "Free" ISP................ here you don't pay for the internet but you pay for the telephone connection. The Telco then shares the revenue from the call charges with the ISP.

2. Fixed monthly fee..............here you pay the ISP a fixed charge, and they give you a "freephone" number to call them. They share part of the revenue with the telco.

3. Pay as you go.....................like #2 but the charges are based on usage.

The thing to remember that local telephone calls are not generally free in the UK, unless you have one of the packages, in which case you would almost certainly have broadband.

Sure you could (theoretically) register a domain and set up your own gear, as outlined by RoadClosed, but in reality that is restricted to large corporations, institutions and the like.

OK, you can use cable, satellite and wireless to connect, but the business model is pretty much the same

[RoadClosed]

You could start up a small ISP for about 20,000 to 40,000 a month and around 700k US dollars, in equipment. What will that get you? and OC3 (100 T1 lines).

But your customers could only use you for an ISP not as a line provider. You would have to then rent each line, provision it and add that to the cost or sell a package and add the line into your facility, like most do. They (telco) sell you a DSL, you order the circuit and intall it and have it billed to the customer when the telco charges you. But then that 700k goes to 1.5 million initial start up. And we don't even have a billing dept or tech staff yet.

OK who's up for giving me 1.5 million for a start up?

Can't afford an OC? A T3 can get you started for about 4,000 to 15,000 a month. That's 28 T1s. Or a T1 for about 400 a month that will spit out 24 DS0s. You might be able to sell those as dial-up accounts and get 50 or so out of it?. Note sure how to interface that 100 percent.

[Goitz]

Godsrock37

I suggest that you look into the "gateway" concept in telecommunications. Where there are differing protocols (and, apparently, rights into certain communication linkages) that necessitate facilitation of connections, there are commercial "service" value involved and that's where the ISPs have to pay their way in as sort of middlemen for the individual users in whatever setting it may be.

...just a thought.