A group of ISPs has found a way around the rules that the BOCs wrote specifically to keep them out of the broadband game.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [April 22, 2004]

While the phone companies continue their unending campaign for more government handouts, the companies that are actually serving their customers are starting to get together.

In North Carolina, the North Carolina Consortium of ISPs (NCCISP) was formed for one purpose: to be allowed to make purchases from the local phone companies (ILECs). Most companies aren't hostile to their customers, but the former Bell companies are.

The consortium's website is undergoing an upgrade, but its people showed up in force at ISPCON. The consortium hopes to be part of the nascent national coalition of state ISP associations that was announced at ISPCON.

Steve Lane, co-founder of the NCCISP, says ISPs need to work together because the rules are stacked against them. "People feel strongly we're getting an unfair shake, but we need to educate others about the problem," he says. Lane himself is the CEO of Hertford, N.C.-based ISP Inteliport.

He feels the ISPs can accomplish a lot by working together. "We have strong leadership in this industry."

The NCCISP was formed in 2000, wrote its charter in 2001, and was officially incorporated in 2002. It has just completed its first full year of official operations, after which it was allowed to apply for official nonprofit status (501 (c)3), which is pending.

The NCCISP was founded originally to solve the problem of broadband access. ISPs want to be able to sell DSL, but the RBOCs that offer it do so only to large customers.

North Carolina is served by Verizon, Bell South, Sprint, and Alltel. So far, the consortium has only reached an agreement with Sprint.

The consortium committed to 2,501 customers over five years, a large commitment, and its members, who may have as few as 15 DSL customers, get to purchase DSL at the rates that only the large, nationwide ISPs usually get.

Furthermore, the tariff (which is written by the BOC, not by the regulator) requires that each ISP customer purchase a full T-1. Instead, the consortium buys the T-1 and takes care of its members' backhauls. The members control provision and authentication, but the consortium runs a proxy RADIUS server for the T-1 line.

The consortium is examining other projects for members, which range from providing VoIP to helping each other during the next hurricane, which in North Carolina is a question of when, not if.

The volume purchase deal caught the attention of local regulators who, unlike the FCC, are interested in seeing local ISPs provide broadband service. The state's e-NC project provided the NCCISP with a $250,000 grant to support the volume purchase of DSL service.

"By pooling their resources and working together on this project, our state's ISPs can deliver improved Internet service to their customers at lower costs," said Dr. James Leutze, chairman of the Rural Internet Access Authority, which is leading the e-NC Initiative to connect all North Carolinians to the Internet and a better future. "As service increases and cost decreases, more North Carolinians will be able to get connected and take advantage of all the Internet has to offer. The NCCISP's innovative project has great potential for helping springboard North Carolina ahead of other states in overall connectivity."

As it examines these broadband issues, the NCCISP is also trying to improve the industry as a whole, by putting together documents on ethics and best practices for the ISP industry. Topics include customer service and wireless interference. "When the customer loses, they drop you and you lose," says Lane. In a sense, when one small ISP loses a customer, every small ISP is punished.

Lane feels that a national association representing 50 state associations will be heard in Washington, D.C., but that there's a lot of work to do. "It's up to each state association. Without them, there is no alliance. We need every state. I wish them luck."

In North Carolina, the consortium is doing well. Although all staff is volunteer, the NCCISP has signed up 45 of the 100 ISPs Lane estimates exist in the state (the fifty percent mark is psychologically important to him). Every ISP pays a flat fee of $500 per year. "Inteliport wanted to pay more, but that was voted down," says Lane. It was thought important that everyone pay the same fee.

The next item on the agenda is classes. "We're putting together a weekend workshop for CEOs, but we're trying to get a vendor sponsor. Other hot topics are spam control, everyday issues like customer service. There are wireless issues like roaming, tower acquisition, and contract classes."

The NCCISP is delivering access to rural areas. As the e-NC maps show, however, a clear digital divide remains in the state. There's work to do, and local ISPs can do it.

— End

 

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Online resources:
	ISP-Planet Directory of ISP Associations