[_ugfj]

Oh first ISPs are fun.

I worked for the first commercial ISP in Hungary in 1995. At the time phone lines were still a hot commodity -- it takes a bit of time to fix decades of neglect, after all (Hungary was a Soviet satellite until 1989 and the wait time for a landline was ~ten years in the 80s). So supply side for lines was low and prices were high. On the other hand, the potential income for the ISP was limited because, well, it's 1995, not many people or businesses even know what Internet is good for. So how on earth did they afford the necessary many lines?

Well, see, they didn't. The guys running the place got wind of a CO in an older district in Budapest has excess capacity so they rented a flat next to the CO and drilled the wall. Presto! Plenty phone lines without installation costs.