Any business plan should look at current needs and any gaps... there are a bunch of competitors specifically in Stowe already (over?)serving the area, covering the range of typical bandwidth/value marks - Stowe Cable, Fairpoint DSL, Great Auk Wireless (they bought Power Shift's Wireless business earlier this year), and Power Shift DSL (not including dial or satellite here). All are well established businesses that have sizable marketing engines and market niches to push up against. Not impossible but tougher than a less-served community further north.
In your biz plan, do you have a rough cost estimate for such a project - salaries, equipment (routers, wireless APs, servers), rents/leases (telecom circuits, office space, rooftops, bandwidth), and company overhead? That should give you a rough revenue target to make your project float when looking at your surveys. A better model for Stowe may be to look for a "sponsor" or "anchor tenant" to serve as a lead customer and indirectly your financier. I would look to the ski resorts - they have cash and a more focused need analysis already - for a campus wireless to kick things off, then if you want to push into the community after that go for it after you've started to get a rhythm going. My two cents... -D On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Rion D'Luz<[email protected]> wrote: > Vail Haguers: > > I should have pointed out in orig. post that this prelim survey is directed > only at the local biz community to determine > if they have any interest in becomming the adopters of a village-wide > mesh-net. They would form the basis for a > 'seeded' area to which others, residents, the Library, NPO's, could attach. > > A general survey directed to the pub...@large would follow if there was > sufficient interest to continue this endeavor. > > Rion > > > > > -- > 3010 Rte 109 > Waterville, VT 05492 > email: rion_at_dluz.com > web: http://dluz.com/Rion/ > AIM/Jabber/Google: riondluz > Phone: 802.644.2255 > http://www.linkedin.com/pub/6/126/769 > > by Areyoukiddingme (1289470) Alter Relationship on Monday July 06, > @05:26PM (#28599973) > So... they'll do quality fact checking back to prime sources, not Wikipedia? > And... they'll report conflicts of interest not only among their subjects but > with their corporate overlord? > And... they'll report which moneyed interests stand to gain, every time? > And... they'll never ever ever accept paid publicity or promotional materials > and report them as news? > And... they'll stop reporting what Britney Spears is doing? > And... they'll never invent another word like Brangelina again? > And... they'll carefully write political copy using neutral, non-loaded words > and phrases, without bias? > > Color me skeptical... >
