One would think there is a nice little business in running exchange points around the country. Get co-lo space on a contract that will let you sub-let, put in a nice FDDI Gigaswitch, heavy-duty power with generator backup, good remote hands, plenty of DS3 entrance facilities (ideally on OC12 or faster sonet for growth!), monitoring and statistics gathering facilities, out-of-band management network, and a nice NOC somewhere to coordinate with all your customers.
Put locations in major metro areas and go to town. You may need some up-front cash, but hey, this Internet thing is hot, so you can probably find investors (big grin).
So how much do you have to charge subscribers to make this work?
-mo
(1) Find out whether anyone has a clue about how to add more major exchange points and actually usefully use them in their routing fabric. But anyway: I was looking at the Tech Data catalog (we've been very happy with a $3k 24-port 3com Etherswitch we got from them). I found: Digital GIGAswitch platform with a 2-port FDDI line card; switches up to 3.6Gbps, forwards at 290kpps per port, 11 slots, FDDI point to point and ring connections, future ATM ready......................................... $30,000 $21,784 GIGAswitch 2-port FDDI Line Card, hot swappable.......... $ 9,000 $ 6,525 GIGAswitch 4-port FDDI Line Card, hot swappable.......... $12,500 $ 88085 A backup switching proc. is $15k, a backup 20amp power supply $2k. Last time I was at MAE-East, I only remember < 20 ports on the Gigaswitch. And there's no generator @ MAE-East. And I'm not sure that those batteries mean diddly. In Philly, the batteries are for DC only. @ MFS, we're on our own for AC backup. Anyway, with some etherswitches with FDDI uplinks and a GIGAswitch or two, you're off. I don't have list prices on the Catalyst series... Then, as mentioned above, NOC & telco facilities, and you're off. We're talking with an IXC about taking an OC3 from Pennsauken to NYC and handing FDDI off for $4k and Ethernets for $2k @ 60 Hudson. We ourselves don't have an interest in it, but hey... Of course, an extended NY Nap that hits 60 Hudson, a building in Philly, and Pennsauken could be interesting... I don't know how crazy a mac-level bridged medium like a bridged FDDI in 3 locations many ms apart would function. And the technology they're thinking of using doesn't scale well - Netedges speaking to each other over OC3s. But if they can get 4 customers @ $4k per, they'll do it. Avi