How to become an ISP?

there was a time back when though it was costly it was easy local ISPs started from the weekend warrior type computer geeks and ham radio operators . you could only do it from the most highly populated cities because the fiber-optic did go far from the big $$ there was only 2 company's MCI & At&T was the biggest usually area had one or the other any one who could get there hands on a few good computer a few modems and a domain name could get good start ..

today not only is equipment expensive need as lot of it you are dealing with multiple back bones and bandwidth is a commodity these days just starting out that can be an issue because as the host you have to buy bid on that bandwidth pay for it use it or not its like electric its there produced how ever if there is no one to use it its gone there is no way to store it for later .. it also really takes more then a spare room or basement it take a bare minimum of a small building that is climate controlled, at least semi dust free air filtered building , has a source of endless back up power just in case a surplus of parts and boards techs on call 24/7 ..

the market is saturated if your not the best deal your not getting the customers :)

That's interesting. I would think there would be some headaches over the personal responsibilities concerning infrastructure that could complicate troubleshooting and maintenance. There's also live technical assistance to consider in that there would be a need for technicians with the skills to communicate with technically challenged customers.

I wonder what the viability of a specialist ISP would be. Suppose it were optimised to work securely with businesses, research facilities or something to that effect.

more technical a block of less then 30 IP addresses on average today Ipv6 cost betweeen $2,500 and $3000 a year this is US dollars ..

keep in mind that back bone line or down stream you make sound so simple and everyday are regulated by federal governments like satellite transponders, tv network and such they are regulated and monitored to be sure they are used effectively and internet traffic remains moving not blocked and flowing...

cost of 1, Tier 3 (T 3) line minium $5000 a month Roughtly $53,0000 a year on the low end. the OC-1 oc-3 lines are the next step up and the best info I can get is if you have to ask you can't afford it .. ok this is the price if the lines pass by your location if At&T or MCI or some one need to run cable to your house from any distance the price goes way up from there running fiber optic 4 miles can cost up to $250,000 to start at your expense and you will need a petition with signatures from others along the way promising other use by them of this line another words they wont do it just for you even when you have to pay ..

keep in mind the recomendation for the tier1 (T1) line you speak of the limit on them is no more then 3 56K connections those are dail up connection not DSL ..

all this is monitored for use by the federal governments FCC in the US for use if its over used or under used not throttled prioritized the right way you can be shut down..

legally when you are an ISP you enter into a contract with your users business or home user to provide internet access if you fail to do so or do so unfairly you have liability and can sued you will want to have malpractice insurance, internet service is not considered a hobby service today, it is considered a necessary service today like heat lights and electric water sewage and the rest VOIP and cell phone make it so forget banking and postal services that are connected to it today as well .. ..

your links that suggest if you havea few spare desk tops laying around you can be an ISP forget that not gonna happen :)

here is the image of the average small to medium size ISP data center

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/04/01/host-installs-carpeting-in-data-center/