Starting a WISP?

Thinking of becoming a WISP in the UK?

Join UKWISPA – we can help you

Become a Member

Join UKWISPA – 
we can help you

If you are thinking of becoming a WISP in the UK, joining UKWISPA is a very sensible starting point. We can help make sure that you operate in a compliant manner and deliver the very best experience to your customers. We have a special Start-up Membership level, so that the cost should not be a barrier.
Become a Member

  • Here are a few areas that you will need to consider and that we can help with:

    ✔ Ofcom: Ofcom needs to know if you are operating as an ISP. However, they don’t have a formal registration process, but they are happy to see you registered with a recognised Trade Body, such as UKWISPA, INCA or ISPA.


    ✔ All wireless equipment requires some kind of licence. 5GHz licences for Band C equipment is £1 per year per transmission point (access point or client station). Ofcom has a minimum of £50 charge. Other bands are complex and some (such as V-Band) are lightly licensed. Fully licenced links give protection from interference and are generally the most stable, but licences can become expensive. Our Partners can help you choose the right kind of equipment to suit the services and locations you wish to service.


    ✔ For Ofcom compliance, you will need a formal Complaints Procedure. We have templates that can help.


    ✔ Landlords and Planning Consents: If you rent space somewhere to mount your equipment, you may need to pay rent for the right to use the space and have a wayleave agreement to ensure you can access the kit. The Town and Country Planning Act defines General Permitted Developments (the things you can install without formal Planning Permission). These rights are greater if you become a Licensed Telecommunications Code Operator under the Telecommunications Act. This is expensive to obtain, but gives you permission to erect towers, dig up roads, chop trees etc, as a Utility provider. It is unlikely that you would need this at an early stage.


    ✔ Speeds and Coverage: Sadly, some manufacturers quote the performance of their equipment in laboratory conditions, which can be far better than in the real world. Public funding is available to help plug bradband gaps in most of the UK. This can be both a threat and an opportunity and it is imperative that you can clearly demostrate coverage if you wish to engage in any public funding projects.

Areas that we can help with:

The Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme has vouchers available for gigabit-capable installations. Vouchers are up to £3,500 for a business and £1,500 for a residential installation. You must be a member of a trade body such as UKWISPA as well as being VAT registered to participate. Voucher applications must be combined, or aggregated into projects for multiple properties.


If you operate in Scotland, the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme is a great scheme introduced in 2020 to help properties that cannot receive superfast broadband. You will need to register and prove that you are capable of delivering such services, but vouchers are up to £5,000 per property and are particularly well suited to Fixed Wireless Access.

 

You should use a specialist hardware distributor such as MS Distribution , LinITX, Winncom or Rapid Wireless to get your kit, as they are great at helping to ensure you are using the right equipment for the job. Backhaul is one of the biggest challenges (costs) and some Openreach products cannot be used for backhaul. Many WISPs use TalkTalk and Virgin Media for faster circuits, as they have good coverage and are very competitive. Our Technology Partners and other Members are always happy to share advice in these areas.


Equipment and spectrum are available on several bands in the UK. These include 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz bands B and C, 3.4 to 3.6 GHz band, 3.8 to 4.2 GHz band and the 60 GHz band (V-Band). Power and Ofcom regulations are different for each band, and all have different propagation characteristics, so it is important to understand the differences and legal requirements. The most popular bands for WISPs are the 5 GHz bands from around 5.4 GHz to 5.850 GHz. More information on these bands is available from Ofcom HERE .


UKWISPA also produces technical guidance from time to time and Ofcom as published our guidance for WISPs on their website HERE. This is a very detailed report on network planning, dimensioning and operation in line with good practice and for coverage data to be deemed of a high enough quality to be included in Ofcom's Connected Nations Reports.

 

Joining UKWISPA should be your first step, as members share and learn loads from one another at our biannual members meetings and private online forum. 

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