I would certainly offer some advanced life support in the form of paying the upstream provider a bit to keep them lit until you can dig in and assess the opportunity.
From: Ryan Ray Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2016 1:58 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] wisp hanging on by a thread Could you negotiate with their upstream yourself if you did decide to buy them? Then it wouldn't take any time to get back online assuming the old provider would continue to provide services. Is the failing WISP just in arrears to their provider? On Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 12:55 PM, Mathew Howard <[email protected]> wrote: Yeah... all you really need (or probably even want) is their actual network (tower rentals, the gear on said towers, and CPE, if they own those) and the customer list... if there's no real alternative, I suspect you'd get the majority of the customers if you can get them back up within a month or so. On Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 2:44 PM, CBB - Jay Fuller <[email protected]> wrote: still waiting to hear any preliminaries but if they only took the "head end" and the tower rentals are just that - rentals - well, i don't need their head end.... but yes, need a lot more information before i can make any educated decisions. ----- Original Message ----- From: Josh Luthman To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2016 2:02 PM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] wisp hanging on by a thread Normally it's as simple as: How much does it cost? How much can you make? In this case...can they sell? Bank took everything, what assets can they sell to you? Josh Luthman Office: 937-552-2340 Direct: 937-552-2343 1100 Wayne St Suite 1337 Troy, OH 45373 On Wed, Dec 14, 2016 at 2:58 PM, CBB - Jay Fuller <[email protected]> wrote: So there is a WISP near us who we recently started coordinating with on frequencies, etc. Last Friday, the reached out and asked if we'd like to buy them. Then later that day they stated they were in a contract negotiation with their bandwidth provider and didn't see a solution. Over the weekend I spoke with someone else who had been affiliated with this company and basically their NOC has been repossessed by the bank. Monday they reached out and asked if we might sell them bandwidth. I told them we'd discuss it internally. Today I see on their facebook page their fiber is down - so this is day one of their going away, I'd assume. There is likely no time left for vetting or due diligence on reviewing this ISP for purchase so at this point it is likely a long shot. My question - I assume you would all advise run run run as fast as you can. From the time a WISP loses their bandwidth (and thus can't provide service) what is the rate of customer exodus? If we came to an agreement and resumed services say - just in time for Christmas - what percentage would you all guess the customer base would have departed? I am told they have 250 + or - I don't know if they're in an area where they are losing to the incumbent phone provider or cable provider. (I know they are in centurylink territory) I know our closest tower to them is 18 miles - but they're probably six hops from our head end. Merry Christmas. :) Thanks in advance.
