[biggermike]

Big tech has big profit margins. Big telecom services doesn't.

Competitors don't enter the industry because there's little money to be made. The only way you make money by starting an independent ISP right now is by serving some niche clientele e.g. serving wireless internet to events at locations without enough broadband access.

[darkwizard42]

I don't think competitors are avoiding telecom due to low margins. I guess you could say the high amount of start-up capital AND high regulatory hurdles AND the low margins (meaning your payback takes longer) cause it to be undesirable...then... yeah margins are (part of) the issue

[biggermike]

> high amount of start-up capital AND high regulatory hurdles AND the low margins

Not independent variables. The large wired broadband ISPs already enjoy economies of scale (access to capital, army of lawyers, etc.) and operate at slim margins. An independent ISP would need to reach the same size just to get the same near-zero margins.

That being said, there is a market for independent ISPs, but they tend to serve specialty customers where margins are much higher.

[908B64B197]

Sounds like a perfect situation for coops.

As long as they break-even then it's a success.

[IggleSniggle]

I’ve heard of communities doing this very thing, or creating city-owned ISPs, and then getting shut down as illegal due to “unfair competition” (the argument being that the government has unfair advantages vs a private company)

[zajio1am]

City-owned ISPs are unfair competition, but coops or non-gov non-profit organizations are perfectly valid approach.