Internet provider's marketing plan. Internet Marketing Plan: Formulating Marketing Strategies. Internet service provider business plan recurring costs

Attention! The free business plan offered for download below is an example. The business plan that best suits your business conditions needs to be created with the help of specialists.

How to Become an Internet Service Provider Through a Business Plan?

The Internet provider company provides services for providing access to the broadband Internet network for the population, enterprises and organizations.

General requirements for office space and its equipment

For the office of such a company, it is preferable to choose densely populated areas of the city. In addition to registering a private enterprise, in order to carry out this type of activity, it is necessary to obtain an opinion on the compliance of the premises with sanitary standards and on compliance with fire safety.

The contractor must carry out high-quality installation local network... This complex process begins with network design, installation, testing, and documentation.

Necessary equipment

There are several options for laying the network: country lane, highway, motorway. Many start out with a minimal highway option, creating a small network for their neighbors. apartment building or a business center.

For this it is enough:

own apartment or office;
average performance computer;
cables for laying a local network;
network card;
high-speed modem and adapter.

All these devices will fit on one desktop. You can also save money on software by starting at a lower level.

At the same time, the functions of supporting network servers are shifted to the top-level provider.

The size of the client base will not be able to exceed 30 subscribers.

To create a wide client base, higher-level networks will be required, requiring significant financial investments, the help of signalmen and a lot of equipment: computers for installing a router server, a domain name server, a billing system, other servers (mail, proxy, WWW), a modem rack, switches and other. It is obligatory to purchase an uninterruptible power supply generator.

Connection to a digital PBX with a four-wire digital line E1 is necessary condition a minimum of entrance lines with which one can hope for serious business.

Recruitment and organization of work with clients

It is more convenient to make settlements with clients through bank branches. You can, of course, buy a cash register yourself and hire a cashier. For starters, you can get by with one advanced programmer with network administration skills.

When working with remote access schemes, 3-5 employees will be required (system administrator, technical support specialist, accountant-cashier, customer service manager).

Payback period

With a medium-sized network, your investment will pay off in about a year.

Table # 1. Potential of consumers of Internet service providers in Russia

Marketing program and customer search

It will not be difficult for the organizer of a lower segment provider company in some remote area to create a client base for himself. In densely populated areas, there is a lot of competition among providers, so customers will have to be poached.

To do this, you need to identify the weak points of competitors, acquire quality equipment, establish adequate pay and provide yourself with advertising. Advertisements can be placed in the local newspaper, in city educational institutions, on buses and subways, on websites and on social media.

How to choose an internet provider

NON-GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTE FOR GOVERNANCE AND BUSINESS

Department “Production technologies

and entrepreneurship "

COURSE WORK

Provider - provision of connection services

to the global computer network INTERNET.

Completed: student ______ course,

Groups, faculty __________

_________ _______________

(date) (signature)
(FULL NAME.)

Scientific
supervisor:

_______________________________

(degree, rank, position)

_________ _______________
_______________________________

(date) (signature)
(FULL NAME.)

Bobruisk 2000

Summary (explanatory note) ……………………………… 3

Characteristics of the proposed product ……………………. 7

Sales market assessment …………………………………………… 16

Competitiveness ………………………………………. 18

Marketing strategy …………………………………………. 20

Production plan …………………………………………… .. 22

Organizational plan ……………………………………… .. 24

Legal plan ……………………………………………. 26

Financial plan ……………………………………………… 29

Funding strategy …………………………………… 35

1. Summary (explanatory note).

The main goal of our company is to provide everyone with access
in global network Internet, and of course getting the most
profit at the lowest cost. The main strategy of the project is
creation of conditions for providing access to the Internet with a knowingly
the best technical characteristics, compared to competitors
(higher connection speed, lower service cost).

The analysis of the market situation showed that the main clients at present
moment are individuals doing work from home. Also
a large proportion of customers are enterprises and organizations that are forced to
use the Internet in your daily work to improve efficiency
activities (advertising, search for new suppliers, sales markets, new
technologies, etc.). The number of potential customers grows with each
in the afternoon.

We are going to react quite clearly to all changes in the lineup.
our consumers, by introducing additional resources, and attracting
additional investment to meet the needs of an increased number of
consumers. One of our main goals will be to continuously improve
quality of services provided by commissioning new facilities.

In the proposed project, attracting clients can be carried out for
account, significantly more high speed connections (56K v.90),
provision of services online email and hosting (disk
space), various tariff plans, including a potential
the customer will be able to choose what is most beneficial for him. AND
the most important thing is the cost of the service, which will be much lower
existing at the moment, with a higher access speed.
This very moment will be the main argument in the "struggle" for
client. The cost of our services will reflect the competitiveness
our services, and it is thanks to the fairly low prices that we
we hope to control a significant part of the Belarusian market.

Everyone knows that VECTOR UChNPP is famous for its fairly high
prices for computer equipment and component materials. By
providing provider services at the lowest prices in Belarus
we: first, make it much easier for computer users
the ability to obtain information from the global computer network;
secondly, we will significantly increase the profit of our enterprise, which
will allow us to expand the range of services provided, and thirdly, we can
significantly increase the prestige of our company in the eyes of our consumers.

The main direction of the company's marketing policy is
attracting a wide range of clients, both individuals and legal entities.
The work will take into account various factors of market conditions such as
customer solvency, customer base, competitiveness
provided services, flexible approach in setting prices and tariffs and
many other factors.

The technological potential of this project is very high. from the first
stage is supposed to use only the most modern and
high-tech equipment from leading telephony manufacturers,
network and switching equipment. Such as Intel Corporation,
Lucent Technologies, AMP, PairGain, Ericsson. Initially, into the project
the capacity of the equipment is laid, significantly higher than necessary for
the first stage, in order to minimize further expansion costs
throughput of equipment and attracting more
clients.

An Internet provider today means an organization that mediates between higher-level providers and direct Internet users. In fact, such a company is a wholesale buyer of traffic, which is subsequently resold at retail to end users.

In Russia, the provision of Internet access is today referred to as communication services, which entails such difficulties associated with obligatory receipt licenses from the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation, project coordination and certification of the equipment used. The specifics of the activity also involves the implementation of such activities only in the status of a legal entity, that is, LLC, CJSC or OJSC. Self-registration of a legal entity and obtaining an appropriate license can take a long time, therefore it is recommended to contact a consulting company, whose specialists will provide support services in preparing all the necessary documentation.

In general, the range of services provided by Internet service providers is quite wide and may include:

Providing broadband, dial-up and wireless Internet access;
Formation of private corporate networks;
Provision of services cellular communication;
Connection digital television;
Placement of the client's equipment on its own territory;
Providing servers for rent.

Initially, Internet providers in Russia provided a variety of related services, which are more typical of companies developing websites and online stores. Often, providers provided hosting for the developed sites, but today the main trend is the provision of cellular services, digital television and, of course, the provision of wireless access to the network.

It is worth noting that previously a good option for doing business was to create a local network within an apartment building. However, this option with the popularization of wireless access has become less interesting for users and, naturally, for companies. A technical problem with home LANs was speed limiting when connecting a large number of users. Also, this business had little scope to scale and compete with large companies offering more profitable Internet connectivity options.

To the risks this business a strong dependence on the following factors should be attributed:

Power outage;
Channel failure;
Changes in legislation, in particular regarding the processing of personal data.

I talked about the marketing mix that ISPs are currently using. Now I want to focus on certain parts of the mix that can give a competitive advantage to this moment, and tomorrow they will be the norm.

It is no secret that what was a competitive advantage yesterday is now taken for granted. Likewise, what gives a competitive advantage today will be par for the course tomorrow. The market is constantly evolving. User needs are growing. Technological progress is relentless. Therefore, the sooner the campaign begins to prepare for the reality of tomorrow, the more successful it will be not only tomorrow, but today.

In the article, each point is divided into two parts - today and tomorrow. Today, as is clear, this is how things are today. Tomorrow is today's competitive advantage, as well as tomorrow's reality.

At the end of the article, there is a table with the capabilities and disadvantages of each item I have covered.

1 Product

1.1 Carrying out the last mile.

1.1.1 Gaining Access.

Today, in order to access the attic or basement, providers ask the subscriber prepare the keys for the arrival of the assembly team.

Tomorrow, this will no longer be acceptable. Why should a subscriber worry and help in performing the work for which he pays money? The section from the TKD (collective access point) to the subscriber's apartment door is the provider's concern, and if the provider cannot solve the issue of gaining access to the technical floors, this is completely his problem.

Tomorrow, providers will have to completely independently provide access to technical floors.

1.1.2 Leading the cable through the apartment.

Today assembly crews simply nail the cable to the baseboard in the subscriber's apartment and conduct him, trying to minimize the cable length.

Tomorrow, subscribers will need the cable to run on cable channel... At the same time, not just through the cable channel - its color and the route of installation must correspond to the subscriber's requests. Of course, installers must clean up all the garbage themselves.

1.1.3 Appearance and behavior of the team.

Today it is considered normal if the assembly team looks sloppy. and speaks to the subscriber through clenched teeth - they are not rude, already good. Not many have uniforms.

Tomorrow this behavior will no longer be acceptable. Assembly crews must have Not only uniform, but also replaceable shoes. For the subscriber, the uniform means that the assembly team belongs to the company and reflects how seriously the company takes the appearance of its employees. In order for the assembly teams to look decent, it is necessary to provide them with 2 types of uniforms - one for working on technical floors, the other for visiting a subscriber. Also, so that there are no traces of shoes in the apartment, the brigades must be equipped with shoe covers. Note that you should not rely on the fact that the employees will take off their shoes in the apartment. There were very funny funny things - subscribers called and said that they were not satisfied with the quality of the connection. During the conversation, it turned out that the fitter's dirty socks left more of an impression than a quick and neat cable run.

In addition to the appearance, it is necessary to pay special attention behavior assembly teams. Politeness, friendliness, interest and openness. Installers should not only be courteous, but should know the product in detail, answer all the subscriber's questions and be able to give certain recommendations.

Installation teams are one of the people who are at the forefront and by which subscribers draw conclusions about the entire company as a whole. It is necessary to understand that for the subscriber, the company is not something ephemeral - these are the people, company employees with whom he deals.

1.2 Time and terms of connection.

Today, providers make connections based on the work schedules of the installation teams. At the same time, they try to optimize the load in such a way as to maintain a balance between the connection time and the number of assembly teams. This is certainly justified. Although, in my opinion, load optimization is far from the best way, rather by eye.

Tomorrow will be necessary connect subscriber exclusively in convenient time for him. This means that if the subscriber asks to connect him in an hour, then this will need to be done. Achieving such a result is possible by dividing the city into districts, assigning assembly teams to districts, as well as through the interaction of marketing and the operation service. For example, you can start by introducing an additional service on a paid basis - "Emergency Connection". Tomorrow, a separate manager will be assigned to each district, who will be responsible not only for the connection process in this area, but also for work on the network, etc.

1.3 Speed.

Today maximum the speed is set by the provider, breaking the options for the provided Internet access speed into tariff plans. Some tariff plans offer an increase in the maximum speed of Internet access at night. The subscriber can decrease or increase the constant speed only by changing his tariff plan, which is often associated with unnecessary inconvenience. For example, switching to another tariff plan can cost extra money.

Tomorrow providers will enable subscribers to independently regulate the access speed to the Internet. Subscribers can not only set a speed limit, but also change it at any time, as well as set a different maximum speed at different times of the day.

1.4 Speed \u200b\u200bguarantee.

Today providers cannot guarantee the speed of Internet access.

Tomorrow lack of speed guarantees will cease to suit subscribers. Providers will need to guarantee the minimum and maximum access speed... Thus, when presenting a tariff plan, providers will name not only the maximum possible speed, but also the minimum guaranteed. In this case, the subscriber will be able to adjust the guaranteed speed.

1.5 Additional services.

Today value-added services are the primary means of increasing revenue per subscriber. Moreover, providers develop services according to their technical capabilities, and not from the principle of demand for services.

Tomorrow, the demand for additional services will only grow, while the demand will be for services that solve specific and sometimes narrow problems of subscribers. Services that ensure computer security, fast work will be in demand, as they are today. All services that help subscribers in their daily activities will be in demand. A company that will be able to understand the needs of subscribers and realize their satisfaction in its additional services will have a competitive advantage. As a small example, I will cite such a service as providing video surveillance inside an apartment using web cameras.

Tomorrow, companies that focus on developing and implementing value-added services will have a competitive advantage.

1.6 IP TV.

In the last article, I already talked about the current disadvantages of IP TV. Now I want to note the following - Today providers provide fixed packages of channels and set to box for one TV.

Tomorrow, subscribers will compose their own channels and set the cost for them. Set to box will have to provide independent viewing on multiple TVs. In addition, in the very near future, all subscriber equipment will be provided by providers free of charge.

1.7 Contract packaging.

Today making the service tangible is essential in the sales process.

Tomorrow, the purchase of services will be associated not only with receiving benefits from the services themselves, but also with receiving certain emotions. One of the factors for receiving emotions will be packaging, or material embodiment of the services provided. In order to demonstrate the importance of packaging, I recommend paying attention to Apple. The company attaches great importance to product packaging. There are thousands of videos on YouTube that show you how to open the packaging of your iPhone, iPad or MacBook. For consumers, this process is associated with receiving emotions. Thus, translating services into a tangible channel allows you to add value to the services for the client and create added value.

1.8 Contractual basis for the provision of services.

Today for individuals only one form of payment for services is available - prepayment.

Tomorrow subscribers will be able to conclude a contract for the provision of services and pay for them upon delivery. Contract basis it is possible to use it as part of a loyalty program - post-payment for services for the most loyal subscribers with a long history of consumption.

2 Pricing

2.1 Additional services.

Today, a small part of additional services is provided to subscribers free of charge.... However, the delivery logic is not based on customer value. This means that, as a rule, services become free, which cease to bring the desired income to the provider.

Tomorrow, all services related to informing the subscriber, computer security and the stability of using the main service will be provided free of charge. First of all, this is due to the desire to improve the quality and reliability of the main service - in fact, the subscriber does not care how the quality of the main service will be ensured, if for this it is necessary to connect an additional free option - so be it. The best way would be to provide this set of services by default, and in such a way that the subscriber does not have to do anything to activate / install them. As well as the configuration of the computer should occur automatically so that the subscriber does not need to perform additional steps for this.

2.2 Total cost of services.

Tomorrow the total amount that the subscriber has to pay on a monthly basis will depend on the amount of all services consumed by him.

2.3 Offering additional services.

Today providers combine additional services into packages to increase their attractiveness through package discounts.

Tomorrow, subscribers will decide for themselves which additional services will be included in their package.

3 Sales

3.1 Sellers.

Today, sales agents mostly go from door to door and just offer to connect to a provider... At the same time, they operate only with publicly available information - price, speed, additional services. Agent training is either completely absent or at an extremely low level. Thus, agents do not know how to work with any objections or with the potential client in general. Already today, subscribers are extremely reluctant to respond to offers from agents.

Tomorrowhowever always effective salespeople will be one of the company's competitive advantages... An effective salesperson does not sell a product; rather, he makes a potential client believe that this product will be the solution to his, the client's, problems. An effective salesperson is polite, personable, and has a thorough knowledge of his company, product, and customer needs. Certainly the key to the effectiveness of salespeople is the training and motivation system.

3.2 Points of express service

I talked about how things are with distribution channels today in the previous article.

In my opinion, it will not be possible to completely switch to remote service in Russia. This is due to the mentality of people - in order to solve some problems it is necessary to communicate with a “living” person. This is especially true for the regions.

That is why tomorrow the main distribution channel requiring physical maintenance will be express service counters - small racks in large shopping centers and others passable places... This format can significantly reduce the costs of expensive offices, while maintaining all the benefits of personal service.

3.3 Connecting is as simple as buying bread.

Today for subscribers there are a number of factors complicating the connection process, eg:

Conclusion of an agreement for each type of service (Internet, television, etc.)
The need to take the keys to the attic or basement in order to let the installation team in there
Etc.

Tomorrow, the competitive advantage will be with the one who removes all these obstacles and makes the process of connecting to the Internet no more difficult than buying a loaf of bread.

4 Promotion

4.1 Promotion channels.

Tomorrow providers will enter a completely different stage of confrontation. At this stage, the battle is no longer at the level of products but at the level of perception. This means that new, bold and non-standard promotion channels will be used. The main role of support and long-term formation public opinion will be PR and guerrilla marketing... Internet marketing, in turn, is a platform for the competition of high professionals, which is associated with the simple access of consumers to information.

4.2 Advertising.

A tip to the providers' employees - you are not selling Internet access, but something else.

Today providers have not yet mastered the tools to influence such a promotion channel as recommendations... At the same time, at least 50% of subscribers make a decision to connect based on the recommendations of acquaintances and friends.

Tomorrow, the work aimed at developing the recommendation tool will become one of the main competitive advantages. Of course, people give good recommendations based on their experience, i.e. the better the quality of the product and service, the better and more recommendation. But active recommendations, i.e. promotion of services by the subscribers themselves, are not involved. At the same time, this tool is the most effective and sustainable in the long term.

4.4 Narrow segmentation

Today, both the product offer and the communications of Internet providers aimed at a wide audience and rather resembles shooting from a cannon at sparrows.

Narrow segmentation is the key to success tomorrow... It is necessary to develop products taking into account the specifics target audience... Don't be afraid to narrowly define your target audience. Communication must be targeted in the same way specifically to the target audience, and not to the whole mass. For example, if a company presents a product aimed at students, then the essence of the product offering should not be limited to reducing prices and increasing speed. It is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of consumption - different speeds at different times of the day, access to certain Internet resources, the necessary set of additional services, etc. As for communications, it makes no sense to promote a tariff for students through direct mail.

5 After-sales service

5.1 Loyalty program.

Loyalty programs today rather than develop customer loyalty and profitability, but rather attract new subscribers. Like - “Look how cool we are! Come to us!". At the same time, the loyalty program means the provision of a small discount on payment for the service and / or the provision of free additional services. As a rule, joining the loyalty program requires the fulfillment of certain conditions.

Loyalty programs will work tomorrow only if they are of real value to subscribers. And for this, it is necessary that first of all develop loyalty and present valuable offers to current subscribers. For example, it has long been proven that in the consumer goods sector, a 5% discount is not valuable. The value is represented by discounts from 15%. In addition, the loyalty program must form emotional relationships with consumers and move away from commodity-money relationships. Tomorrow, loyalty programs will cover the entire subscriber base by default. To connect to the loyalty program, there will be no need to perform any actions.

Tomorrow, loyalty programs will form emotional relationships with subscribers and focus on subscriber development.

5.2 Technical and informational support.

Today providers cannot give guarantees for the elimination of failures when it comes to individuals. In practice, the elimination of an incident can take 15 minutes or 3 weeks. These are definitely extreme cases. The average time to resolve an incident varies greatly.

Already today this state of affairs does not suit subscribers. Least 50% of churn is due to subscribers' dissatisfaction with the quality of technical support. I focus on this - not the quality of the network, but the quality of technical support.

Tomorrow, the quality of technical and information support will be one of the main criteria for making a decision on choosing a provider. This means that a competitive advantage will be a guarantee that the incident will be eliminated within a specified time.

5.3 Retention of subscribers.

Today, only a small number of providers are purposefully working to retain subscribers. While this work allows not only to reduce the churn rate, but also to increase customer loyalty.

Tomorrow, due to the increasing level of competition, subscriber retention work will become as necessary as promotion today. This work should be based on an analysis of a complex of factors such as:

Traffic availability
Number of support calls for the last month and quarter.
The number of calls for reasons of not providing the service.
Frequency of support calls.
The total time the service was not provided.
Service not available during peak hours.
Activity on the use of additional services.
Subscriber's lifetime.

5.4 Subscriber development.

Today, there is practically no work on the development of subscribers... However, this is one of the main ways to increase ARPU - the average return per user.

Tomorrow the issue of increasing profitability will arise in a completely different light and will you must have subscriber development programs. At the same time, the development of subscribers should be based on the analysis of needs and potential demand. The basis for increasing service costs is increasing value for subscribers. At the same time, you should not try to sell this or that service to a subscriber at a retail price. It is necessary to form the complexity of services in the understanding of the consumer.

5.5 Account Management.

Today, some providers set up one single account for their subscribers, while others split accounts by service.

Tomorrow the subscriber will manage his account himself. If necessary, break it up, so that, for example, a shortage of funds on the Internet account does not lead to the shutdown of television. Or, on the contrary, it will combine all accounts into one, in order to simply deposit money into the account, and from this account distribute funds among services.

6 Strategy

6.1 Interior orientation

Today providers, in making strategic and tactical decisions, are guided by competitors. This means that the principle “do like everyone else” works in the following questions:

Pricing
Launch of new services
Promotion
Sales

Tomorrow such a strategy will lead to stable income degradation. To have a competitive advantage it is necessary first of all to focus on the company's customers... It means that:

Prices should be set based on the value of the product to the consumer. And for this, in turn, it is necessary to understand what constitutes the consumer value system.
Products need to be developed based on customer requirements, but at the same time develop new and unique products, the demand for which has not yet formed due to lack of supply.
Promotion should take place not on the basis of reducing the cost of it, but on the basis of the effectiveness of the achievement and impact on the target audience.
Sales and service should be as convenient as possible for subscribers - step-by-step availability + solution of the issue by one call.

6.2 Service focus

Tomorrow providers will focus on the quality of customer service and service. In this case, it will be necessary to receive constant feedback from subscribers in order to eliminate the shortcomings. Service quality, not a product, will become the field where the competition will unfold.

Strengths and weaknesses of the components of the marketing mix.

	Strengths	Weak sides
Independent access to technical floors	Subscribers are less worried about the connection issue	You must have your own keys to all technical floors, which requires establishing relationships with management companies at a new level.
Laying the cable through the cable channel	It is more aesthetically pleasing	Additional costs for the cable channel
Garbage collection after installation work	The less the subscriber has to do to connect, the better	no
2 uniforms for each installer	When visiting a subscriber, installers have a neat and clean look	Additional costs for uniforms
Using shoe covers	No need to take off your shoes in the apartment, indicative of customer care	Additional costs for shoe covers
The polite and professional behavior of the assembly crew	Good impression of the company, easier interaction with subscribers, the ability to sell additional services
Connection at any time set by the subscriber	Point of differentiation	Additional costs associated with an increase in the resources of assembly teams
Implementation of district managers (city)	More flexible management of work in the area, quick reaction to events	Additional costs for district managers and maintenance of distribution centers
Subscribers manage the access speed themselves	Point of differentiation, the ability to increase ARPU	Appropriate equipment and a certain reserve along the main channels are required
Internet access speed guarantee	Point of differentiation, image of a reliable service provider	You need to have a constant reserve along the main channels
Investments in the development of additional services	Increasing ARPU, improving image, increasing attractiveness for subscribers	Tying capital in the form of investments
Subscribers themselves choose a set of TV channels in a package		With the correct distribution of the cost of channels, there are no weaknesses
Set to box To multiple TVs		Higher equipment costs
Free provision of subscriber equipment	Increasing the attractiveness of the offer	Payback period increases
Physical packaging services	Increasing the attractiveness of the offer, the offer is easier to accept and more difficult to refuse	Additional packaging costs
Contractual basis for the provision of services	Increasing ARPU	Increase in accounts receivable
Services for information, security and stability of the use of the main service - free of charge	Improving the image of a reliable company	The costs of maintaining these services
Automatic computer settings	The subscriber does not need to contact the support service in the event of a computer breakdown, etc.	no
Automatic settings for additional services	The easier it is to connect certain services, the more willingly they are connected	Development costs of the customization scheme
The subscription fee depends on the amount of services consumed	Increased control over the range of services and their cost by the subscriber increases the attractiveness of the company	Product portfolio management costs
Professional sellers	Increase in sales share and efficiency	Requires training and careful staff selection
Express service counters	Reduces the cost of personal service, improves the quality of service, increases the availability of the company	The cost of manufacturing racks and renting space
Connecting is easy, how to buy bread	The easier the connection, the more they connect	All the cons are worth all the pros
Using PR, guerrilla marketing	Increases the efficiency of communications, reduces the cost of promotion	Professionals in these areas are not cheap
Emphasis on Internet communications	The cost and quality of contact is lower than off-line advertising	Investing in intelligence
Advertising in the context of everyday life	Improving advertising efficiency	Sometimes higher implementation costs, investment in finding new ways to advertise
Emotional communication	An emotionally interested subscriber is more loyal, which means he is ready to spend more money	Delayed effect
Professional visualization	Improving advertising efficiency, point of differentiation	Advertising production costs
Development of recommendations	The ability to manage the strongest acquisition channel	High implementation and development costs
Narrow segmentation	Increases the efficiency of communications and sales	no
Extensive loyalty programs	Reduces churn, increases the attractiveness of the company	Program implementation costs
A guarantee that the failure will be eliminated in a strictly allotted time	Improving the image of a reliable company, reducing churn, increasing the attractiveness of the company and supply	Additional costs for human resources, the need for ongoing audits and maintenance networks
Retention of subscribers	Reduced churn and increased loyalty	Customer retention program costs
Subscriber development work	Increase ARPU and loyalty	Development program cost
Subscribers manage their accounts themselves	Increased subscriber control increases the attractiveness of the company	Investment in equipment and billing may be needed
Customer orientation
Service Level Concentration	Sustainable competitive advantage	At a certain period, the rate of return on investment decreases

Summing up, I want to note the following - at the current time, the basis for obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage is a full-fledged customer orientation. This means that ISPs need to find answers to the following questions:

What products will be the most attractive for subscribers today?
What products can we surprise them with tomorrow?
What is important for subscribers?
What's the best way to get the message across to subscribers?
How to make connection and maintenance simple and convenient for subscribers?
· How to transform value into price?

I've suggested the most obvious set of marketing mix. You can start with it. But if companies do not begin to change in the very near future, the market will react in its own way and will simply start squeezing out non-viable companies.

Currently, the process of market consolidation is underway - large companies unite small ones under one brand. But at the same time, apart from the name, nothing changes. In this case, crowding out will occur in the opposite direction - the development of a large number of small companies with a high level of service will begin again.

The options I have proposed for changing the marketing mix, for the most part, require not high investments, but changes in service delivery policies. And understanding simple marketing basics - happy customer brings more income. The cost of improving service and product is an investment in customer happiness.

The Internet has reached our homes as widely as it can. Nevertheless, there are still apartments where the worldwide network has not penetrated. In addition, if we take into account the current pace of urban development, we can conclude that there are still grandiose work to connect new buildings. Therefore, the Internet service business is relevant now and will remain so for a long time.

To begin with, it is worth defining an Internet service provider. It is an organization that provides the market for Internet access and other related services. From a legal point of view, an Internet provider is a telecom operator that has a license for one of these types of services:

Communication service for providing communication channels.
Communication service in the information transmission network, except for the transmission of voice data.
Communication service for the transmission of voice data in the information transmission network.

Anyone who wants to start a business in this area sooner or later asks himself a logical question - how to become an Internet provider? A huge number of people, including experienced businessmen, believe that organizing the work of an Internet provider is incredibly difficult from a technical point of view. This explains the small number of entrepreneurs who entered the telecommunications market. However, not everything is as difficult as it might seem at first glance. Speaking at all in simple words, the business of an Internet provider is to wholesale the Internet and sell it to end users at retail.

According to Forbes magazine, in 2013, the Internet access market in Russia grew by 28% in six months, and Comstar - UTS still occupies the position of the largest operator.

8% of the market is occupied by VimpelCom - Beeline, and ER-Telecom closes the top three with 7.1%.

Other ISPs are far behind in the rankings, with the top three having slightly reduced their market share. VolgaTelecom serves only 6.5% of users, North-West Telecom - 6.1%, and Uralsvyazinform - 5.2%.

The TOP-10 largest Russian providers are rounded out by Akado, Sibirtelecom, Southern Telecommunications Company with market shares in the range of 4-3%, the rest received 38.4% of the market.

What are the Internet providers

Internet providers can be federal level, which distribute the Internet at the level of the whole city, and local. In an average regional center, there may be dozens and sometimes hundreds of local providers. In accordance with the services provided to subscribers, Internet providers can be divided into the following types:

hosting providers;
access providers;
backbone Internet providers;
channel providers;
last mile providers;
mobile commerce service providers;
others.

Access providers are primary (backbone) - owning backbone communication channels - and secondary (city), which lease communication channels from primary providers. Primary ones sell traffic exclusively in large volumes and provide their services to other providers, although it doesn't happen once at a time, and there are exceptions.

How to become an internet service provider

Before starting an activity, you need to register a legal entity and obtain a license to provide the use of communication channels by contacting one of the law firms for help. After that, you need to deal with the equipment: protective cabinets that store all the equipment, switches, servers, several types of cable (fiber and copper) and much more. Only after installing, configuring and thoroughly testing the equipment, you can become a full-fledged Internet provider and move on to attracting customers.

Besides sales, you need to take care of customer technical support. Ideally, it is 24/7 and multi-channel. Long waiting times for an operator's response and ineffective technical support are often a decisive factor in a client's decision to change their provider.

Internet provider activity

The list of services provided by the provider includes:

broadband access to the worldwide network;
dial-up access to the Internet;
wireless Internet access;
hosting (allocation of a certain disk space to ensure the operation of sites), support for the operation of a virtual mail server and mailboxes;
colocation (placement of client equipment on the territory of the provider);
rent of virtual and dedicated servers (VPS and VDS).

Internet provider for legal entities

For manufacturing enterprises, financial institutions, offices, telecom operators and others legal entities Internet service provider provides the following services:

ensuring uninterrupted high-speed Internet access;
lease of communication channels with high performance for any client purpose;
a range of multimedia services: video conferencing, video surveillance systems, television broadcasting, radio, etc.
e-mail services, hosting and location of data blocks on the Internet;
creation, support and configuration of information security systems.

Internet provider business plan

The Internet provider market has one peculiarity - its state support is completely absent, and this direction developed thanks to private organizations. Therefore, quality services provided in places where the solvent population is concentrated, which in most cases are separate areas of large cities. In this regard, the regional market of Internet services, not having full access to the network, is open to new names. Let's consider all possible options for implementing the provider's business plan.

The local network

The easiest and cheapest way to get started is by providing Internet access to the residents of your apartment building. The launch of this project does not require a large technical base and large financial investments. It is necessary:

productive personal Computer ($ 600−1000);
network card ($ 25-30);
network cable ($ 0.2 per meter);
switch ($ 15-20).

To connect a client, you only need a network card. This cannot be a problem, since modern motherboards have an integrated network card. If we take into account the use of UNIX system for the server, the costs of software not to be. Considering all costs, including the purchase of an external unlimited channel with unlimited access ($ 140-180), the required start-up capital does not exceed the amount of $ 1500. The only disadvantage of the local network is that the speed of Internet access is divided equally for all participants, so the number of subscribers is strictly limited. If such a business is not for you, then you should read about.

Analog access to PBX

More field for action is provided by close cooperation with companies providing telephone services. However, if in the previous case it was possible to work "in the shade", then this will have to be completely legalized and it will not be possible to do just one computer. Requires 2-3 powerful machines in order to host the server router. They must have high-capacity hard drives (from 2 TB). Equipment you need:

server computers (from $ 4000);
PC for office tasks (from $ 450);
modem rack (from $ 1300);
adapter card with multiple ports (from $ 900);
switch (from $ 300);
cable equipment (from $ 300);
uninterruptible power supply units (from $ 150).

To implement such a project, an Internet provider will need at least $ 8500. The next step is to obtain telephone channels, one for each available modem. Practice shows that it is sometimes very problematic to come to an agreement with the local telephone service, since a frequent response to a request is a refusal "There is no free capacity." The best option would be to contact a private telephone company, where a similar issue can be resolved for $ 2000. An external digital channel will cost $ 400, and a monthly fee is about $ 1500.

Digital access to PBX

The main disadvantage of the previous scheme is the limitation on access speed and audience coverage. In order to increase the indicators, it is necessary to install special equipment operating on the basis of digital access to the network. This will allow combining access lines into one digital sweat, transmitted to the provider.

A server designed for the required minimum of 30 telephone channels costs about $ 6,000, and a router that allows connecting subscribers via a dedicated line costs $ 2,200. Thus, the cost of all equipment for a provider that operates on digital technology is at least $ 12,000. the monthly fee for an external channel is about $ 2500, and the rent of 30 telephone channels is $ 1000 per month.

An Internet provider's business plan is a complex document from an economic and technical point of view, because there are a lot of small expenses, the satisfaction of which is simply a necessity, but at the same time, a very difficult point from the point of view of miscalculation. However, the careful study of small details will definitely pay off in profitability.

Another important point is the level of user service, because hardly anyone will be satisfied with the "hanging" and "outgoing" Internet. such a business starts from 60%, but with the provision of additional services to subscribers, such as interactive television, free hosting on certain conditions, it increases proportionally.

Internet provider license

Providers conduct their activities on the basis of an agreement concluded with a telecommunications operator and a copy of the license this operator, according to the Law "On Communication". A certified copy of the license is a document that confirms the right of an Internet provider to carry out its activities to provide telecommunications services.

Equipment for the Internet provider

A more general list of minimum necessary equipment, which is required to organize an Internet provider:

web servers;
ftp servers (often combined with web servers);
mail servers (integrated on small systems with web servers);
terminal and identification servers;
secondary servers;
development, control and news servers;
registration and settlement servers;
network switches;
control equipment, tools, cables;
administrative panel, printer;
uninterruptible power supply units;

The main costs are associated with the equipment, therefore the best option - Seek help from special consultants who will help you avoid unnecessary and incorrect purchases.

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