[LINK] Aussie Network Engineers Form Members-Only ISP

[Kim Holburn]

Via slashdot

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/309346,no-frills-nbn-provider-aims-for-the-tech-savvy.aspx

> No-frills NBN provider aims for the tech savvy
> 
> By James Hutchinson on Jul 20, 2012 1:00 PM (1 day 9 hours ago) 
> Filed under Telco/ISP
>  
> Engineers form members-only utility.
> 
> A group of telco consultants and engineers in Victoria is planning to launch a not-for-profit internet service provider in an attempt to provide cheap access to the National Broadband Network for like-minded people.
> 
> The nascent group, dubbed 'No ISP', gained cooperative status under Victorian law earlier this month, enabling them to recruit members and provide services without the financial requirements of a standard company structure.
> 
> It will offer plans on the NBN with minimal margins, facilitated by near-zero costs, non-existent staffing and none of the support or  service structures now commonplace in the telco and ISP industries.
> 
> In effect, No ISP plans to offer NBN as a utility, rather than a service.
> 
> "We treat [the NBN] as a utility that's available to all — there's no differentiation in the way people are connected, or managed or set up — it basically only comes in one flavour," said Phillip Stevens, a Cisco systems engineer by day and secretary of No ISP by night.
> 
> "If that's the case, it truly can be treated as a fully standardised utility ... you don't add the service elements on top that telecomms companies have been doing for their own specialised services — you have someone there to teach you how to do everything associated with your service, whereas with a utility it's a much more straightforward service.
> 
> "It works, it's there, you turn it on and you use it."
> 
> Under Victorian legislation, No ISP is able to cover its own operating costs as a cooperative but unable to make or report a profit to its members.
> 
> Instead, those who sign up will be offered a share in the cooperative worth $1200. Stevens said they would be required to pay a portion of this to cover membership and could pay additional membership fees in future — to be determined democractically by members — to cover unforeseen financial costs.
> 
> "I think it's quite a bit different to the way the ISPs are going because they realise the ubiquity of the NBN and the fact that it is a generic service, so they're currently working very hard to capture added services they can bundle in to protect their margin," Stevens said.
> 
> "We don't need to do that because we basically have as little overheads as we can get away with."
> 
> The organisation currently has no staff — it's founding board members are all volunteers and are likely to stay that way.
> 
> All core aspects of the business are outsourced where possible: NBN connections will be funneled through a sub-wholesaler on the network like Nextgen networks, while it has signed onto a hosted billing and operational support system from Aussie vendor Inomial.
> 
> Though professional legal, accounting and systems support staff may eventually be added to the cooperative's roster, No ISP plans to remain a barebones, no-frills provider.
> 
> "To be frank there isn't a lot of magic in internet services anymore and that's why the margin is failing," he said.
> 
> "In the old days ... you needed technical staff, you needed support people but frankly, with a wholesale provider, there's nothing that needs to be done in terms of buying any kind of router of any sort."
> 
> According to Stevens, the cooperative plans to sign up its first customers — or, more aptly, members — to the NBN over the next several months once contracts are secured.
> 
> However, the key differentiation between No ISP and other ISPs isn't in individual membership but instead through the community the group hopes to grow over time.
> 
> No ISP will not always compete successfully with ISP mainstays on price — it is currently proposing an entry price of $110 per month for a terabyte plan on 100 Mbps down and 40 Mbps speeds over the fibre network.
> 
> An equivalent plan can be purchased for $10 less a month from iiNet, due mainly to the larger ISP’s existing scale and direct connection to the NBN.
> 
> Instead, No ISP hopes to instill a community attitude that could bring further advantages like the ability to trade excess data quota between users while providing community support between members.

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-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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