Starting an ISP on nbn: what you actually need

I've been the small shop. I've had a provider refuse an order because we only needed two services, and I've seen what it costs just to get started: the NNIs, the minimums, the contracts written for companies ten times your size.

Starting an ISP in Australia doesn't need most of that any more. It does still need some things, and they're worth getting right first.

The obligations are yours

Whichever wholesaler you use, the moment you sell internet to the public the regulatory obligations are yours. A starting list:

• Carriage service provider. Reselling nbn needs no carrier licence, but it makes you a carriage service provider, with the obligations that come with it. ACMA explains what that means.
• TIO membership. Providers selling to homes and small businesses join the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman scheme.
• The TCP Code. Sales, billing, credit and a Critical Information Summary for each plan, under the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code.
• nbn service rules. A Key Facts Sheet for each nbn plan, including typical busy-period speeds (ACMA).
• Financial hardship. A hardship policy for residential, small business and not-for-profit customers (ACMA).
• Customer identity authentication. Multi-factor checks before high-risk account changes (ACMA).

That's a starting point, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the regulator's pages and get advice for your situation.

Going direct, or not

You can connect to nbn yourself. That means connecting to the points of interconnect your footprint needs, planning backhaul, signing an nbn contract with its credit checks and accreditation, and building your own aggregation, authentication and addressing. Then transit, peering and a rack to put it all in. For a national footprint, that's a serious project before your first customer.

Or you can let a wholesaler aggregate the nbn side. You deal with them, not nbn, and you skip the build until you want it.

What to decide on day one

How you take the service. Layer 3 internet means the session ends on the wholesaler's network: no NNI, no BNG, nothing to build. Layer 2 means it ends on yours. Start with Layer 3 unless you already run a network. I've written about the three ways to take nbn separately.

Whose addresses. On Layer 3 internet your customers can use the wholesaler's addresses, so you don't have to buy IPv4 to launch. Bring your own range when you have one.

How you'll handle faults. Your customers will call you, not nbn. Make sure you can run nbn's own tests yourself, so an escalation goes in with evidence instead of a description. Nobody can make nbn fix faults faster. What you control is how good your ticket is.

Billing and first-line support. These stay with you. So do your brand, your plans and your pricing.

Start with one

You don't need a hundred services to be taken seriously. On Underlay there's no minimum service count and no Underlay setup fee; any third-party charges and service-specific commitments are identified before you order. Start with one service, maybe your own office, and grow into your own network when the numbers justify it.

If that's where you are, the Start an ISP page has the detail, or tell us what you're planning.