I won't mince words: you're asking customers to outsource the core pieces of their business (netops, backhaul, billing) that they should be competent in, which puts them in a precarious position if you exhaust your runway, decide to move on to another venture, or are acquired by a less-than-ideal org.
Full disclosure: Muncipal/coop broadband proponent.
We definitely want to make sure that nobody's left high and dry in any set of circumstances. Obviously, we hope to happily partner with our operators indefinitely, but we wouldn't ask someone to commit their capital and ask their customers to depend on them without having these contingencies covered. Companies have started & run ISPs before Necto (of course), but there are significant cost and knowledge hurdles that keep a lot of operators out. I think of it like with Squarespace, where the knowledge of self-hosting a website may be outsourced, but the end result is broader access to the benefits of having an internet presence.
Also, big shout out to Graham (the author of startyourownisp.com). We met, and he's super knowledgeable. I encourage anyone interested to read his guide, it's very good. We don't see our offerings as directly competitive, and share a common goal of increasing connectivity.
Hi! Author of https://startyourownisp.com here. Thanks for the mention. I've talked to the folks at Necto and I think what they're doing is great! Hopefully my guide will be helpful to people building networks whether using Necto or not. There is certainly more to the business than what I've been able to add to the site so far.
> you're asking customers to outsource the core pieces of their business (netops, backhaul, billing)
An alternative way to look at this is it's a "white label franchise" business where someone not steeped in the technology can do what they know best, likely acquiring and keeping customers. I don't know if it will work, but I'm interested to see.
> Full disclosure: Muncipal/coop broadband proponent.
Something like this could probably accelerate municipal, coop, and piggyback (e.g. local water district or other small, independent utility) to take advantage of local infrastructure without having to acquire skills in a completely new domain.
I won't mince words: you're asking customers to outsource the core pieces of their business (netops, backhaul, billing) that they should be competent in, which puts them in a precarious position if you exhaust your runway, decide to move on to another venture, or are acquired by a less-than-ideal org.
Full disclosure: Muncipal/coop broadband proponent.