> How difficult is it to build an ISP? Technically speaking, it's a road well-traveled. It's just a big network. Would be a fun startup, actually -- billing sy

> How difficult is it to build an ISP? Technically speaking, it's a road well-traveled. It's just a big network. Would be a fun startup, actually -- billing systems, network design, IPv6, capacity modeling, peering, value-adds for your customers, all the data you could imagine for what your customers were doing if you're so ethically inclined. There's a cornucopia of stuff to hack on to make a good ISP. These days you're somewhat expected to deliver television and telephony as well, with even more fun projects buried in both (just ask the people hacking on X1 at Comcast). The hard part is legal, with regulation and government-supported anticompetitive practices making it nigh impossible. Ask Dane Jasper about his fiber rollout in the Bay Area and you'll see what I mean (he lurks here). > where are the 4G home internet providers? Sprint bought Clear, the only one I'm aware of.