Do NISPs Provide a Good Return on Investment?

The good news is that wireless networks don’t require the high capital expenditures mandated by wired networks, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build. In fact, usually a wireless network can be built that will provide high-speed wireless Internet connections to 25-50 users for under $15,000.

The return on investment is quick and will continue to generate revenue after the initial costs are paid off. For example, if a small NISP can sign up 50 customers at $40 month, it would take only take 5 months to break even. At end of 12 months, most WISPs would gross around $24,000, with a profit of $9,000. This is with only 50 customers.

A normal wireless access point or base station can usually support 100-200 hundred customers, using over subscription models that predict that only one out of every six customers would be online at the same time.

If you lived in a neighborhood of 500 homes where no broadband is available it should be very easy to sign up customers. If you were able to sign up 200 customers at $40 per month, suddenly you would have a business that would be grossing $96,000 a year, which is great money for just about anybody looking for a sideline business.