How to start a broadband company india??

Hey,

Does anyone know how to start a broadband company in india?? What is the procedure and is there any licence fee for it, if so how much will that. Or where can i find info regarding it. Is there any website to get info??

Replies awaited....

Ashleigh..

I dont get your point.. when you say starting a broadband company do you mean setting up an isp? or a franchise for an isp who is already providing services?

If you are not a resident of India or yours is a company registered outside India you will have to have an Indian partner unfortunately..

Yes you have to have a liscence to start providing services and if you are planning on adsl services you will have to set up your own exchanges and lay your own cables as the government run bsnl and mtnl dont allow last mile sharing like they do in other countries.

Do give me a shout if you need any more information regarding this.

Hello Admin,

Thx for your reply.. What i exactly i mean is, I want to provide Wireless Internet which does not need the use of cables. All it needs is a base station and receiver on the user side. With that i also want to get a data center running, which would make sense like most service providers in Europe. Basically i have 3 questions.

1. I will be a wireless ISP, Do i still have to pay the license?
2. If i only plan to setup a Data Center for Hosting Purpose, Does the license fee still apply?
3. Does the government give any guarantee for the power supply. ( I can't bee down the whole day in Summer )

In General can u pls comment on setting up a Hosting Data center in India!! Does it have any market? If not now in the near future.

Once again thx for your help dude.

Ashleigh

1. I will be a wireless ISP, Do i still have to pay the license?

• Wireless or with wires, you would still need a liscence and when you say wireless I am hoping you dont mean wimax! as I am in the que as well and its been a year and a half now since ive been running pillar to post and to be honest This is not the right time to enter the market so I am holding up for now will wait another year.

2. If i only plan to setup a Data Center for Hosting Purpose, Does the license fee still apply?

• I am not too sure about how the liscencing goes with data centres but in India you need to pay a few people under the table to get things going or else youll be standing there at the doors for years and your files will just gather dust on some assholes table

3. Does the government give any guarantee for the power supply. ( I can't bee down the whole day in Summer )

Government does not guarantee power supply anywhere in India and nor do the private distributors in their respective areas. Electricity prices are more then double as compared to UK and where I am living I get at least two power cuts daily without notice of two hours each. No compensation for the power cuts either as its a norm here.
Almost all big businesses have their own big ass diesel gen sets for backup and they have inventors for crucial equipment.

For a data center I am not sure how they back up their power but I know of at least three data centers so they must be running some how..

This is a good time to set up a data centre if you can keep your costs low and provide hosting to high end businesses which currently host in USA . International bandwidth prices are higher then you can ever imagine thats why Indian hosting is not in demand. I would be the first one to get hosting from you here in India if you can provide me at even double the price I pay at present for my boxes at layeredtech

Do give me a shout if I have forgotten to answer anything.

Ooooh is it so... that is a long time waitin dude....

Is it because the way the system works or you been held for some other reason??? What kind of a license did you apply for?? I done a bit of research and found out the three kinds of license. Cat. A, B And C

Yes i am planning to setup the wimax. WISP... IN case if i go ahead and apply for the license now, how long do you think i will get approved. I believe that there is some 2 crores, 20 lakhs and 3 lakhs fee(bank Security) to be paid. Now do we have to pay that money and wander the next 2yrs waiting for the license??? or do i have to pay this fee after i get approved?? it's Non-sense.

I am not too into Data center stuff in India, as taking the factors like Power and International Bandwidth. You go abt investing large amounts of money and you don't get expected returns, then that will be a waste of time.

Ur good Thx for all the info dude.

Ashleigh.

The waiting is over now, It was due to the government being lazy on deciding the spectrum to be used by wimax operators and the Indian army sitting on a large chunk of spectrum which is internationally available for commercial use.
These issues have now been resolved and I am not waiting on some problems which are inherent with the wimax setups and a few players are working on them right now so I am waiting for those major issues to be resolved before I step in

By the time those issues will be resolved .. Reliance wimax will have earned a very bad name and so will bsnl's wimax which is due to be rolled out very very soon.

Nice to see a discussion on setting up an WISP in india.

Let me give you some of my inputs and would appreciate any comments and suggestions from admins and other members as well.

I will be launching an WISP in Gujarat by another 2 weeks time. Let me give u details of my setup.

Basic Requirement for an WISP:
1. A high rise building or top of a hilly area for better LOS. (in my case I acquired an office on a 11 storeyed building and built up a tower on its rooftop).

2. A robust hardware for your base station snd a good data center.
--> Wireless equipment with a long range (you can use 2.4 / 5.8 Ghz devices).
--> Managable Switch (Cisco is recommended)
--> Authentication Server
--> User and Billing Server
--> Power Supply System (I have one which offers 8 hours of supply)
--> Media Converters.
--> Networking Tools

3. Bandwidth from a good gateway. (few of them even share the licenses, so that u won't need to get into those licensing issues).

NOTE: the whole game depends on the wireless devices that you use, so make sure you have the right equipmnets for your business.

Admin, do correct me if I have gone wrong anywhere.

Regards,
-DX

Hey dxnation,

Thanks for the detail info. I am very much serious about this business and want to start my own WISP in thane. I need to talk to you more regarding this.

One line answer : By paying lots of bribes

:lol::lol:

good one

Hi Dxnataion.

what u pay for wimax spectrum.

did u use free band or paid.

what license fee for paid spectrum in india.

thanks

Im also planning to start my broadband services in punjab... Acc. To me we need to get permission from d.o.t for gateway access and there's a security and fees for the same...

Actually... Im planning for lan broadband..

In which only single p.c can serve 250 approx clients

can anybody tellme harware req. For dsl and approx. Cost for setup??????//

Hi Everyone,

Looking for some info to start WISP in Gujarat.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Member @birender
provides the system/s required.
Send PM for details.

In South India and elsewhere,
Zylog Systems are establishing
WIFI networks. ( Wi5)



@gtronix
Do you intend to use Business plans of BSNL or some other ISP ? ( Like, for a Browsing center )

Hii, im from jamshedpur. the broadband service available here is only of bsnl which in very bad. so i want to enter this business but i m totally new to this. it would be really helpful if anyone who has already in this business help me by allowing me to visit your company and see the basics. Also any other advice which you can give me is most needed and appreciated...thankyou

@jazzy

You should seek professional help if you are serious about the business. Here on the forum you may gather the general ideas but when it comes to investing money you should only trust professionals.

Hii admin
Can you please suggest me from,where can I get professional help for this purpose and also the approximate capital ill be needing to start the business if I opt for internet cabled lines..

@Jazzy,

Hire a consulting firm and they will find a good one for you. If you are looking to do something small scale you should speak to the likes of Sify and see if you be interested in their franchise model.

Hii
Thanks to all for a discussion which i m looking.
Now i have one question that what is total expense on establish an wirless isp if i m planing for one city i mean in 100km. Specialy dxnation have answer of my question.

Hi All,

I am interested in starting a Wireless ISP business in Chennai and surrounding areas. Seems like bunch of us are asking the same question. It will be great if the pioneers in the forum suggest the path and contacts to get a plan going.

Thanks
Raj

Just as I said in a post previously : Hire a consulting firm that specializes in telecom if it is going to be a large scale operator or go the franchisee way using Sify or Worldphone etc. There are plenty of companies.

Heloo
i just nees one ans what amount is required for establish a wireless isp business. For a city like varanasi.

Do you want to set up your own towers? Renting? What equipment are you going to use and do you want to provide only fixed wireless or for mobile too?
It is not possible to put a figure like you want. How much for wireless at Varanasi? Well it could be 1000 Crores or it could be 100Crores or it could even be 50Crores or may be lesser. You need to find out what you really want to do first. Saying how much for a car would get answers like 1.5crores or jusy 5 lakhs etc depending on what car you want.

Sent from my GT-N7000

i have been following up few threads from past 1 hour... i am learning on how shall i setup a small scale WISP to provide internet access to limited users ( 100 Max ) in my area.i came to know that there is franchisee option which seems feasible to me. can someone throw some light on that aspect. i mean where and how shall i proceed now.

For a small scale operation in its initial stages when you are trying to know how this business works I would suggest franchise option is the best. Speak to worldphone, you can find their number on their official website.

k. let me talk to them... i will post their reply soon.

btw admin i guess u were also planning for starting your own WISP services if i am not wrong. any progress on that ?

Originally Posted by bhardu

btw admin i guess u were also planning for starting your own WISP services if i am not wrong. any progress on that ?

I will be the first one to opt for the service.. he would defntly give some special offers to IBF membes at cheap rates

Originally Posted by Admin

For a small scale operation in its initial stages when you are trying to know how this business works I would suggest franchise option is the best. Speak to worldphone, you can find their number on their official website.

Sir i sent u one PM... plz do reply.

I did look into the possibilities but that was a long time ago. I am out of the wireless business altogether now so dont think I would be trying to do that again. The problem was that I was unable to find investors who wont mind getting no returns for 10 years or so and was hoping for creating a large user base and instead of making money out of broadband service I had a different business model in mind but unfortunately the large funds didint find my ideas good enough so it never took off. I dont have the capital to do it all by myself.

I am still able to procure BTS and CPE at cost price from some of the reputed manufacturers because of my past links to those companies but the order ticket has to be in millions of dollars. If one of you is looking for a good deal you can get in touch with me.

Originally Posted by bhardu

Sir i sent u one PM... plz do reply.

I have replied to your PM.

Originally Posted by Admin

I did look into the possibilities but that was a long time ago. I am out of the wireless business altogether now so dont think I would be trying to do that again. The problem was that I was unable to find investors who wont mind getting no returns for 10 years or so and was hoping for creating a large user base and instead of making money out of broadband service I had a different business model in mind but unfortunately the large funds didint find my ideas good enough so it never took off. I dont have the capital to do it all by myself.

I am still able to procure BTS and CPE at cost price from some of the reputed manufacturers because of my past links to those companies but the order ticket has to be in millions of dollars. If one of you is looking for a good deal you can get in touch with me.

IMO you are basically looking to start own WISP ? in that case that that much investment is justified... i am a noobie in terms of technological procurements but yeas ... i will consistenly keep on looking for some ways to get an franchisee sort of thing.
if i am able to obtain franchisee from a reputed ISP ... i will be in need of networking devices involved and other technological aspects... i might use knowledge of yours

My knowledge is a little outdated so it would be best for you to speak to other operators and find out what works the best. Once you find out what you need then I can probably help you in getting a good deal for those products.

got a mail from one of the guys i mailed.. according to him , it will cost around 5-6 lakhs to set up WIPS in a area which will cover up a radius of 4 kms. will update more once i will get reply from him. :-)

Do not forget the power backup setup costs and the operating costs for an extended period of time until you break even.

I checked with a company from delhi
And they are charging me 4.5lakh to setup small ISP in my home town with franchisse and 22500 pm for 10mbps bandwith.?

I think this charges are more so please let me know if there is any other company who can offer this setup at a cheaper price.

ok... got reply from two guys who claim to setup WISP .
for a radius of 3 kms ... charges will be bit less ( but not known exactly how much )
for a radius of 5 kms WISP coverage they r charging around more or less same amount i.e 4.5 lakhs...
it includes following :

100 Mtr tower setup ( includes installing n transportation )
4 transmitter sort of things dint remmember their names.. sorry will post the exact quotes once i am in ma office.
2 PC Windows
2 Server Linux
UPS
Cables n connectors
User end modules
Software to log ip addresses . user creation/deletion
10 mbps line which can be divided in 1:8 ratio it will cost around 22K/ month.

Originally Posted by K.h.nitinjain

I checked with a company from delhi
And they are charging me 4.5lakh to setup small ISP in my home town with franchisse and 22500 pm for 10mbps bandwith.?

I think this charges are more so please let me know if there is any other company who can offer this setup at a cheaper price.

hi nitin jain... would you please share the details of which wisp u r talking here ? would you mind to drop a PM instead please. :-)

Hi bhardu
Please email me the details of the company it will be highly appreciable.email.

Hate to be a spoilsport, but here's what you need:
Money, like Crores for bribes to get licenses and service locations.
Money, like more Crores, to buy equipment,
Money, like even more Crores to hire staff,

After this is done, a basic understanding of Networking will tell you that:
All wireless networks, need a WIRED BACKBONE.
The BASE Stations will be connected by wired networks.

So, your point's moot.

Now after all this is done, you will need to lease bandwidth from an incumbent player like VSNL (Tata Indicom) or Reliance, who bring bandwidth into India, via undersea cables for Reliance and Satellite and undersea cables for VSNL(Tata Indicom). Their uptimes are based on SLAs.

The consistent power you will need for your servers will see you put up a steam boiler based utility power plant for yourself. Thus the location will have to be in an industrial area. Once you have all this figured out, please update this thread.

Sorry if I sound negative, but the situation of ISPs in India is pathetic to say the least.
One advice: instead of opting for a well services location like Thane, opt for an under serviced area like some part of Navi Mumbai.

Originally Posted by bhardu

ok... got reply from two guys who claim to setup WISP .
for a radius of 3 kms ... charges will be bit less ( but not known exactly how much )
for a radius of 5 kms WISP coverage they r charging around more or less same amount i.e 4.5 lakhs...
it includes following :

100 Mtr tower setup ( includes installing n transportation )
4 transmitter sort of things dint remember their names.. sorry will post the exact quotes once i am in ma office.
2 PC Windows
2 Server Linux
UPS
Cables n connectors
User end modules
Software to log ip addresses . user creation/deletion
10 mbps line which can be divided in 1:8 ratio it will cost around 22K/ month.

in that please describe 1:8 ratio broadband the how many user can attend at a time or how much downloading speed they would have

Nextraworld giving away 10 mbps for one year at 2.7Lakhs .
i guess going reseller way initially would be a feasible and cheaper way for me. what you guys would have to say on this ? there will be less hassles and i would be able to learn things side by side while carrying my job alongwith.

Meanwhile Airtel guys called up and they will be shortly doind survey the area locations emailed to them yesterday. they will check the feasibility of their nearest BTS tower n will see if WISP is possible in my viscinity or not.

keeping fingers crossed :-)

will share more info.

@deepak ... whatever i've learned in past few weeks over calls and emails , i came to know that you can distribute 10 mbps as follows
1 mbps per user / unlimited for max 80 users... that guy was claiming that the software at ur server end manages in such a way that almost maximum number of people gets this bandwidth...
:-/ i m not sure on this.
can someone please throw some light

Got response from TIkona ... their working standards seems to be totally different from others.

i have one question here...
why dont these biggies ( ISP) like tikona/reliance/vodafone/airtel..... themselves provide wisp directly to customers ? they hav infrastructure n money to support :-/

Originally Posted by bhardu

i guess going reseller way initially would be a feasible and cheaper way for me. what you guys would have to say on this ? there will be less hassles and i would be able to learn things side by side while carrying my job alongwith.

Buying bandwidth from Nextra etc initially and trying to maximize profit margins is not the best approach in my view. Get in touch with something like Worldphone.in and see if they will set up for you and that way your initial expenses will be a lot lesser and fixed monthly expenses will also be a lot lower. Once you have enough customers then you can think of doing it on your own and get a bigger share of the profits.

Originally Posted by bhardu

why dont these biggies ( ISP) like tikona/reliance/vodafone/airtel..... themselves provide wisp directly to customers ? they have infrastructure n money to support :-/

These companies will only offer their services where they can maintain profit margins. It does not necessarily mean that your area is not feasible but that is one possibility and another reason could be that those big companies dont know the potential yet. Once you start buying good amount of bandwidth then you might see them entering the retail market in your area too.

When you say WISP you mean 2.4Ghz frequency or 5.4 and these are not the best frequencies to work with and there is a lot of local noise too. Another problem with 2.4 is that the range is too small for a tower and having too many towers increases costs too. You forget that when an ISP sets up a tower they set up huge back up power gensets and also a large battery bank which is guarded by a guard 24/7 and these costs are a lot by any standards. When you set up such a thing the security aspect comes free of cost and transportation costs/maintenance etc are taken care by you but an ISP pays out of their pocket for employees who do this. There are a lot of other aspects too.

Once Reliance 4G gets operational you would see all the ISPs running for market share when they see RIL gaining customers due to their low price point.

Originally Posted by Admin

Buying bandwidth from Nextra etc initially and trying to maximize profit margins is not the best approach in my view. Get in touch with something like Worldphone.in and see if they will set up for you and that way your initial expenses will be a lot lesser and fixed monthly expenses will also be a lot lower. Once you have enough customers then you can think of doing it on your own and get a bigger share of the profits.

sir ,
technically speaking is there any difference between worldphone n nextra ? isnt both isp ?

They are both ISPs but the difference is between the way you do business with them. I dont know about Nextra but Worldphone takes care of all the backend stuff.

got two options to setup the network.. either to go for 2.8Mhz structure or 5.4Mhz ( donno the exact range )
the guy told that with 2.8Mhz the coverage will be upto 600Mtrs.. more prone to noise ... cheaper to install....
with 5.4Mhz... more coverage uotp 5kms radius... less prone to noise hence consistent signal,,, and will cost 5-5.5 Lakhs for the infra.

any suggestions as to what should we start with ? anyone using any of these technologies ?

Yes at 2.4 GHz there would be lot interference. All the devices using WiFi operating at 2.4ghz make interference to your network.
5.8 GHz faces only a little interference.
Regarding cost 5.8 GHz devices (CPE, AP) are costs more than 2.4ghz devices.
Ex : Ubiquiti nanostation loco m2 (2.4ghz) costs 3500rs whereas loco m5 (5.8ghz) costs around 5k.

It can be decided only on site survey. If there is no wisp in your area and there is no potential interference in your area. Then you can go with 2.4 GHz and can save more.
Regarding the coverage. Even though you can reach out to a couple of kilometers, you can't provide connection everywhere. Because of LOS
Line of Sight is crucial for quality of wisps. So spending much for the range is not good. Moreover I don't think that the 5.8 GHz have more range than 2.4ghz ones

"1 mbps per user / unlimited for max 80 users... that guy was claiming that the software at ur server end manages in such a way that almost maximum number of people gets this bandwidth...
:-/ i m not sure on this.
can someone please throw some light"

Yeah it is possible. All the ISPs do this. It is called contention ratio.
You can distribute a 1 Mbps leased line to 10 members with a Datacap( not unlimited). Practically at a given time only one will be using the bandwidth.
Regarding the software. They are bandwidth shapers.
A lot of Bandwidth shaper softwares are available for isps. They monitor the usage pattern of the users. They slowdown the speed of exploiters who frequently using torrents and downloads etc. There by normal users won't get affected. All the users will enjoy what they are offered.thus maintaining the QoS

shud i start my business as a wisp ,shud start to launch my tower or wait for lte reliance 4g or airtel 4g in rajasthan.
i want to start but 4g.......

Originally Posted by wisp

It can be decided only on site survey. If there is no wisp in your area and there is no potential interference in your area. Then you can go with 2.4 GHz and can save more.

This is a very short term view. If there is no disturbance now then it will come later on. What would you do when there is a lot of noise? Start investing in new equipment from scratch and spend all the money you have earned by then?

Originally Posted by wisp

It can be decided only on site survey. If there is no wisp in your area and there is no potential interference in your area. Then you can go with 2.4 GHz and can save more.
Regarding the coverage. Even though you can reach out to a couple of kilometers, you can't provide connection everywhere. Because of LOS
Line of Sight is crucial for quality of wisps. So spending much for the range is not good. Moreover I don't think that the 5.8 GHz have more range than 2.4ghz ones

what exactly shall one look in this survey ? like are there any high tension wires/ any high rise buildings/ trees ? what ? u mentioned " spending much for the range is not good " now what does that mean tikona uses 2.4 or 5.8 ?

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by deepakgupta.rf

shud i start my business as a wisp ,shud start to launch my tower or wait for lte reliance 4g or airtel 4g in rajasthan.
i want to start but 4g.......

deepak ji,, reliance 4G will take long time ... even if it's launched ..they will require huge manpower to manage that.... not my opinion .. it was told by some guy to me who is working as a ISP from past 3 years in haryana. had a meeting with him yesterday only so he was pretty much sure that reliance 4G is not going to change things as we all expect it to so i will say...dont wait for reliance / airtel 4g... if u hav plans...go n spoil the market

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Admin

This is a very short term view. If there is no disturbance now then it will come later on. What would you do when there is a lot of noise? Start investing in new equipment from scratch and spend all the money you have earned by then?

exactly same concerned raised by my boss while we were returning back after having discussion with the guy. i would say intially i would do a sample test on a very small number of users with 2.8 Ghz...which will be much cheaper to install n after having seeing the results for 5-6 months ( may be) then we can change the 2.8Ghz devices installed with 5.8Ghz one.... n i guess that changeover should not take much time. the downtimes will be at most the time required to remove n reinstall the devices so in my opinion quite a approach to give 2.8Ghz a shot.
@ kathir... what u have to say on this ?

Yeah probably. Things can change. But is not a big problem to switch from 2.4 to 5.8. If more ISP s enter then you can replace the 2.4 AP into dual 2.4 and 5.8 AP. And replace 2.4 cpe with 5.8 where there is connectivity problem due to interference. That would make things going. Then you can slowly rollout to 5.8 with your earning. You can use those 2.4 devices in another site perhaps.

- - - Updated - - -

Site survey is not only about trees and buildings. You need to check which frequencies are used by other devices or wisps. Then you can chose a 20mhz range in the 2.4ghz spectrum which is not used by others and having least interference for operating.

Regarding Range, Line of sight should be clear between AP and CPE. Without clear line of sight you cant give the connectivity. So Consider the Line of Sight tooo while planning for that much range

I personally believe it is best to start with cable and then eventually when you want to expand then go for wireless because initial investment is a lot bigger for wireless. I am myself using a local cable provider's internet and down times are minimal. Wireless should be used where running the cables is a problem not everywhere. A mix of cable and wireless works the best.

Ubiquity products are priced on the higher side. There are plenty of other manufacturers that you can choose from. Tikona uses Ubiquity products at customer end and to check what customer experience is like you can have a read through some of the reviews in Tikona section. You wont have much left for imagination after reading a few reviews.

Sir ,
starting with cable infrastructure will require manpower to be dedicated devoted at the location. i have constraint on that matter. i can not always be physically present / or afford someone 24X7 for the surveilance of cable network in case of breakage/ outage. wireless seems a bit more sensible to me so that's why we are considering that option. i agree that ur cable wala isp might be providing a good connectivity to you. i donno which part of delhi u stay ...but here in janakpuri...mtnl sucks.. airtel (cable) broadband have issues at times... but tikona wireless... it roxx in case of connectivity. i have been using from past 1.5 yrs... nover seen any big outage more than 2 hrs. :-) n that was hardly 3 times in the entire year

Yes that makes perfect sense. I am at Uttam nagar right next to you My cable wala is from Janakpuri and uses worldphone. MTNL should work well because you have MTNL exchange behind district center and distance cannot be much to anywhere in Janakpuri.

worldphone does provides liscence under it's shadow :-)
they are providing a 10 mbps line for one year... n the cost is 2.7 Lakhs. it is offcourse negotiable as per their executive who was on phone call. i am waiting to meet and have a face to face discussion... let us see how things work out. will update you all soon. anyone who is also looking for same stuff ... we can share knowledge over phone call, if anyone else is interested may be we can talk over ... please dont hesitate to share contact numbers over PM :-) PS: Admin sir u wont mind sharing contact numbers over PM :-/

What you do in a PM is your own business but if you guys post info here in this thread it will benefit a lot of others too where as in a PM it would not.

Hi Bhardu,

I am planning to start WISP in my area(around Chennai), if you share your final selection of the provider and cost details, that will be much helpful for me. expecting your reply.
Thanks in advance.