Looking for a wireless ISP business plan? You're in the right place.
A fixed-wireless provider spends money on towers, radios and trucks months before the first bill goes out. A lender or investor will ask how many subscribers pay for that network, how many leave each year, what the transit contract costs and how many support staff the base needs. A template that says "describe your services" answers none of it.
This article walks through a complete sample plan for a fixed-wireless internet provider in Chicago, section by section, ending with the full five-year financials. The business is fictional; the questions are the ones a plan has to answer.
Here's what each section gives you:
- The executive summary: see how to state the network, the raise and the subscriber target on one page
- The market and customer sections: learn how to size a service area block by block, without leaning on a national statistic
- The site-by-site operating plan: find out what a tower lease, a backhaul link and a subscriber radio each add to cost, so your capacity claims hold up
- The churn and sign-up model: see how disconnects drive gross additions and marketing spend
- The five-year profit, cash flow and balance sheet: follow how support headcount, backhaul and equipment loan payments show up in the numbers
- The downside case: have a reply ready for "what if sign-ups run 20% behind?", with the steps management takes
If you are planning a wireless ISP, read this before writing your own. Grassroots Tech is fictional, so keep what fits your market and change the rest.
In this plan
If you need a internet isp wireless business plan template for your own plan, start it in the Toolkit.
Executive Summary
Grassroots Tech is a fixed-wireless internet provider that opens on January 1, 2027 in Chicago, Illinois. It sells home and small-business broadband on the city's outer edge, in blocks where a street-level survey finds fewer than two wired choices. Radios on rooftops and towers reach a small antenna at each customer's building. Founder Teresa Okafor runs the company, and two angel investors hold 40% of the common equity alongside her.
The company raises $1,350,000: $150,000 from Teresa, $900,000 from two angels for 40% of the common equity, and a $300,000 equipment term loan. Equipment, vans and field gear take $300,000 and legal, licensing and launch work another $60,000. The remaining $990,000 is a reserve, because the network has to exist before the customers who pay for it.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $446,482 | $1,342,800 | $2,341,900 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($532,144) | ($198,818) | $191,495 |
| Closing cash | $529,525 | $300,783 | $454,195 |
The company opens with 40 residential and 4 business subscribers from a pilot on the first tower, and reaches 661 subscribers and 3 sites by December 2027. By Year 5 it serves 3,482 subscribers from 12 sites. Years 1 and 2 are losses. Year 3 is the first profit, and net margin reaches 13.5% in Year 5 with every wage in the personnel table paid.
A second run of the model takes 20% off every revenue line. Hiring slips six months, half the early site build-out spend is deferred, marketing falls 20%, Teresa takes a 20% pay cut and distributions stop. The company is worse off than the base case in every year, and cash still stays above zero.
The plan counts no grant or subsidy income. Public broadband programs may open to fixed-wireless providers, but their rules change, and the model stands without them.
The Company and the Network
Legal name: Grassroots Tech, LLC, an Illinois limited liability company. Owners: Teresa Okafor and two angel investors. Premises: a 2,500-square-foot flex unit with a warehouse bay, a support floor and a staging bench, in Chicago. Start date: January 1, 2027. Stage: pilot running. The first tower is lit and serves 44 customers on trial plans; commercial launch is January 1, 2027, and the two other first-wave sites have letters of intent from their landlords.
What the company sells
A monthly internet subscription over a license-free or lightly licensed radio link, with an installed antenna, a router and local support by phone, text and truck.
Where the company wants to be by the end of Year 2
- 1,685 subscribers (1,600 residential, 85 business) on 5 sites.
- A monthly residential churn rate at or under 1.7%.
- Monthly revenue above the $122,789 needed to cover operating costs.
- Nine staff, including two on the support desk.
Plans and prices
| Plan | Monthly price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Residential 50 Mbps | $59 | Entry tier, 35% of residential sign-ups |
| Residential 100 Mbps | $79 | The main tier, 45% |
| Residential 250 Mbps | $105 | For streaming and work-from-home households, 20% |
| Business Starter | $129 | Shared 100 Mbps, 40% of business sign-ups |
| Business Standard | $229 | Shared 250 Mbps, 45% |
| Business Dedicated | $399 | Dedicated 100 Mbps with a response commitment, 15% |
Installation is $99 for a home and $249 for a business on average, after promotional waivers. Residential plans have no term contract and no data cap. Business plans run 12 months.
Spectrum and regulatory position
The plan expects to run on unlicensed 5 GHz bands, on shared 3.5 GHz spectrum under the FCC's Citizens Broadband Radio Service rules and, where the rules allow outdoor fixed use, on 6 GHz. Unlicensed bands carry interference risk and no protection, and shared and 6 GHz bands depend on coordination requirements that the FCC can change, so counsel confirms the current rules before launch. The company buys only certified radios. The $12,000 start-up line covers the first registrations, coordination-system onboarding and city permits for the first three sites; the $5,000 in Year 1 operating costs covers annual fees and permits for new sites. A spares and replacement line grows from $8,000 to $70,000 a year in case a rule change or interference forces equipment swaps. A provider that reports coverage may also have to file in the FCC's Broadband Data Collection, and counsel confirms that obligation as well.
Broadband Gaps on Chicago's Edge
Who else sells a connection here
Four kinds of provider sell to the blocks the company targets. A cable operator covers most of the city but not every block, and its price rises after promotional periods end. Fiber providers have built in some neighborhoods and skipped others. Mobile carriers sell home internet over their 5G networks, with coverage that varies by tower. Satellite is available everywhere, and its latency and monthly data allowances suit some households and not others. The company names no competitor and quotes no competitor price, because plans and promotions change often.
How the service area is chosen
A block is a candidate when a desktop check shows line of sight to a planned site, a survey of the street finds at most one wired option, and a count of buildings suggests about 250 to 300 subscribers per site at maturity. The FCC's National Broadband Map is a starting point for that survey, though it records provider-reported coverage and not what a household can actually buy. Teresa's team verifies each block on foot. Each site is sized for about 250 to 300 subscribers, roughly 20% of the 1,200 to 1,500 buildings in line of sight.
Why a household would switch
The company's edge is narrow. A household gets a plan with no data cap, a local person on the phone and a technician from the same company, and a business gets a second link on the same network. The plan does not claim lower prices than mobile carriers' home-internet plans or cable promotions, which change often, and its $79 middle tier is priced on speed and service.
Why fixed wireless
A wireless build can reach a block in weeks and typically costs less than trenching fiber to every door. The trade-off is that line of sight matters: trees, new construction and tall buildings block links, and summer foliage hides problems that bare winter branches revealed. The plan expects about one address in six to fail the check.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Founder has run wireless networks for nine years | Fixed costs arrive before the subscribers who pay for them |
| Pilot tower already carries 44 customers | Depends on rooftop landlords and city permits |
| Local installers and same-week support | Shared spectrum offers no interference protection |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Blocks that wired providers have skipped or serve poorly | Cable and fiber operators cutting prices where the company wins |
| Small businesses that want a second link | Rule changes in shared bands |
| Public programs that may open to wireless providers | A transit or landlord price rise |
Households and Shops We Serve
Households with one poor choice
The main customer is a household on a block where the wired option is slow, costly or unreliable. Some are renters who want no contract. Some work from home and have outgrown a legacy DSL line. The trigger for switching is an outage, a bill that jumped after a promotion, or a move to a block with a poor line.
Small businesses
Corner shops, clinics, auto shops, churches and small offices on the same blocks. A business wants a second connection or a faster one than its landlord's building offers, and cares about a person who answers and an engineer who can reach the site. The $229 Standard plan is the largest business tier.
What both groups ask for
Speed that holds in the evening, a price that stays put, a technician who arrives in the window, and a phone call answered by someone local. Wireless adds one more question at the door: whether the antenna can see the tower.
From First Inquiry to Installed Customer
The sign-up path
An inquiry starts with an address check on the website. A desktop check rules out the obvious failures the same day. A technician then visits for a rooftop or side-of-house survey, usually within three days, and the customer signs before the install, which follows within a week.
The Year 1 funnel
About 2,000 address checks come in during Year 1. One in six fails line of sight, leaving about 1,670 serviceable addresses. The company converts about 38% of them, or 642 residential sign-ups, plus 37 business accounts that the founder handles herself until the business accounts manager starts in month 16.
Where the sign-ups come from
| Source | Residential sign-ups | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Door hangers and direct mail near each site | 193 | 30% |
| Customer and neighbor referrals | 160 | 25% |
| Search and social ads | 128 | 20% |
| Community partners | 96 | 15% |
| Events and business outreach | 65 | 10% |
Churn and retention
The model removes 1.7% of residential subscribers each month and 0.9% of business subscribers. Year 1 loses 60 residential subscribers. By Year 5 the number lost rises to 632 residential and 18 business, and gross additions stay near 1,000 to 1,200 a year just to keep the base growing. Moves, price shopping and links that degrade over time are the main causes, and a visit within 48 hours of a complaint is the main remedy.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential subscribers at year end | 622 | 1,600 | 2,400 | 2,900 | 3,300 |
| Business subscribers at year end | 39 | 85 | 128 | 158 | 182 |
| Sites in service at year end | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
Where the Marketing Money Goes
Year 1 spend
Year 1 marketing is $96,000: $30,000 of launch work paid from start-up capital and $66,000 of running spend. Spread across 679 new residential and business subscribers, that is about $141 for each one. The cost per new subscriber drops to about $111 in Year 2 once launch costs fall away, then rises to $127 in Year 3, $180 in Year 4 and $214 in Year 5, because the closest blocks sign first and later ones take more effort to reach.
| Channel | Year 1 spend | What it is expected to do |
|---|---|---|
| Brand, website and launch campaign (launch) | $30,000 | An address-check page, a coverage map and the first mailer to blocks around the pilot tower |
| Door hangers and direct mail | $20,000 | About 193 sign-ups from the blocks around each new site |
| Search and social ads | $16,000 | About 128 sign-ups from searches such as "internet near me" and neighborhood groups |
| Community partners | $8,000 | Sponsorships and sign-up days with churches, block clubs and libraries; about 96 sign-ups |
| Referral credits | $8,000 | A $50 bill credit for each referrer; about 160 sign-ups |
| Business outreach | $6,000 | Chambers, business associations and walk-ins by the founder; the source of the 37 business accounts |
| Van wraps and yard signs | $4,000 | Visible installs that prompt neighbors to ask; support the sources above |
| Local events | $4,000 | Pop-up tables near each new site; support the sources above |
Marketing milestones
- January 2027: pilot tower converted to paying plans.
- May 2027: 243 residential subscribers.
- September 2027: 504 residential subscribers, the August peak of 74 gross residential additions behind it.
- December 2027: 661 subscribers and about $56,000 of monthly subscription revenue.
Running the Network
Sites
Each site is a rooftop or tower position leased at $1,150 a month including power. Every site gets battery backup and a fiber or licensed link to the core at $600 a month. The first three sites are two rooftops and one monopole position. Later sites follow signed demand: 5 by the end of Year 2, 8 by Year 3, 10 by Year 4 and 12 by Year 5, at about $30,000 each for radios, mounting, power and permits. Leases run five years with renewal options and a relocation-cost clause, and a rooftop landlord who ends a lease early would have its traffic shifted to neighboring sites while a replacement is built.
Backhaul and capacity
Backhaul is a cost the plan prices site by site. The company buys IP transit at a planning figure of $1.50 per Mbps a month, in a block sized to 3 Mbps for each residential subscriber and 9 Mbps for each business subscriber at the busiest hour. The plan sets a minimum commitment of $22,000 in Year 1. With the links to each site, backhaul totals $36,400 in Year 1 and $274,100 in Year 5, roughly $7 to $9 per average subscriber per month. An actual carrier quote in the Chicago market could differ.
Installation and field work
An installer-technician completes about two to three installs a day, plus repair visits. Year 1 needs two installers and Teresa on the roof during the peak. A third installer starts in month 20 and a fourth in month 50. Subscriber hardware costs a net $210 for a home and $520 for a business, and radios from disconnected customers are refurbished and reused.
The support desk
The support desk answers phones and texts from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The on-call engineer takes after-hours outage alerts, and non-urgent messages wait until morning. One representative handles roughly 700 to 850 subscribers, which means 1 at the end of Year 1 and 5 by Year 5. A network monitoring system pages the on-call engineer when a link drops, and each site's battery backup is sized to carry it through short power cuts.
Licenses, insurance and safeguards
- Illinois business registration and City of Chicago business and rooftop permits, confirmed with counsel. Pole attachments and public right-of-way permits are not planned and would need separate agreements.
- FCC-certified radios only, and counsel's review of the current spectrum and reporting rules before launch.
- Insurance for general liability, work at height, cyber risk and equipment costs $26,000 in Year 1, rising to $42,000 in Year 5. Workers' compensation sits in payroll on-costs and vehicle cover in the vehicle line.
- A written customer agreement covering service levels, acceptable use and the right to remove equipment.
- Landlord agreements with access, power and removal terms for each site.
Vendors on call
Carriers for transit and site links, an equipment distributor, a billing platform and a monitoring vendor. Radios are standard parts, and none of these suppliers is hard to replace within a quarter.
The Team and Its Gaps
Teresa Okafor, founder and general manager
Teresa has nine years in wireless network operations: six at a regional fixed-wireless provider in northwest Indiana, where she ran field operations for about 4,000 subscribers, and three at a Chicago managed-services firm. She holds an associate degree in electronics technology. Her $150,000 investment is nine years of savings, and she takes $95,000 a year in pay from month 1.
Where the team is thin
Three gaps stand out. Teresa has not run a consumer marketing program on her own, has not negotiated a rooftop lease as a tenant, and has no regulatory training. The plan covers each in turn: marketing is run on a monthly review of cost per sign-up, an attorney reviews the first three site leases, and counsel confirms spectrum and reporting rules before launch.
Network engineer and installers
A network engineer starts in month 1 at $92,000 to run the core, monitoring and link design, with a second engineer arriving in month 50. Teresa and the first installer cover the field work until the second installer starts in month 5.
Key-person cover
The company buys key-person life and disability cover on Teresa. The operations manager, hired in month 25, and the network engineer hold the credentials and documentation to keep the network running if she is away.
Ownership and the lender
The two angels pay $900,000 for 40% of the common equity and receive no preferred terms in this plan; Teresa holds 60%. The $300,000 loan is secured on the equipment it buys, carries Teresa's personal guarantee and requires quarterly accounts and a $100,000 minimum cash balance.
The Numbers, Year by Year
The forecast below runs for five years: monthly in Year 1, annual after that. Subscriber counts, churn, site costs and headcount come first, so every revenue and cost line traces to a count multiplied by a price or a unit cost.
Build-out funding
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Core router, switching, power and site radios for the first 3 sites | $190,000 |
| Vehicles (2 vans), ladders, alignment and test gear | $85,000 |
| Warehouse racking, office fit-out, billing and monitoring hardware | $25,000 |
| FCC registrations, spectrum-coordination fees and city permits | $12,000 |
| Legal: entity, site-lease reviews, customer terms of service | $18,000 |
| Launch: brand, website, block-by-block campaign | $30,000 |
| Cash reserve for the build-out months | $990,000 |
| Total uses | $1,350,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Teresa Okafor's savings | $150,000 |
| Angel investors (two, 40% of common equity) | $900,000 |
| Equipment term loan (site radios, vans and field gear) | $300,000 |
| Total sources | $1,350,000 |
Teresa Okafor puts in $150,000 and two angel investors add $900,000 for 40% of the common equity, which leaves Teresa with 60%. Together that is $1,050,000, or 78% of the $1,350,000 raised. The other $300,000 is an equipment term loan at 9.5% over five years, interest only for the first six months. It is secured on the $300,000 of radios, vans and field gear it buys and carries Teresa's personal guarantee and a minimum-cash covenant of $100,000. The rate is a planning figure and not a lender quote. The $990,000 reserve is large beside the equipment budget because every month of Year 1 and most of Year 2 loses money: sites and staff exist before the subscribers who pay for them, and the build-outs for sites 4 to 12 come out of the same reserve. The plan counts no grant or subsidy money.
Operating figures behind the forecast
- Residential plans come in three tiers: 50 Mbps at $59, 100 Mbps at $79 and 250 Mbps at $105 a month. A mix of 35%, 45% and 20% gives $77.20, and first-year credits and waived months bring the blend to $77. Business plans are $129 (shared 100 Mbps), $229 (shared 250 Mbps) and $399 (dedicated 100 Mbps with a response commitment). A 40%, 45% and 15% mix blends to $215. Fees rise 2% a year from Year 2.
- Churn is 1.7% of residential subscribers a month, about 19% a year, and 0.9% of business subscribers a month, about 10% a year. Year 1 opens with 40 residential and 4 business subscribers from a pilot on the first tower. Gross additions of 642 residential and 37 business in Year 1 leave 622 and 39 at December, after 60 residential disconnects. Later years need 1,205, 1,208, 1,041 and 1,032 gross residential additions to reach 1,600, 2,400, 2,900 and 3,300 at year end. Disconnects rise from 227 in Year 2 to 632 in Year 5 as the base grows, which is why gross additions stay near 1,000 to 1,200 a year even as the subscriber count climbs.
- Installation fees collect $99 per residential install and $249 per business install on average, after promotional waivers, which gives $72,771 in Year 1. Subscriber radios, routers and mounts cost a net $210 per residential add and $520 per business add, after refurbished radios from disconnected customers are reused. That is $154,100 in Year 1, so the install fee covers less than half the hardware before any labor.
- Each site (a rooftop or tower position) costs $1,150 a month to lease with power, and $600 a month for the fiber or licensed link that carries its traffic to the core. Sites in service reach 3 at the end of Year 1, then 5, 8, 10 and 12. Sites 4 to 12 cost about $30,000 each for radios, mounting, power and permits, and the plan adds a $45,000 van in Year 3 and again in Year 5. These build-outs are charged in full in the year they happen ($60,000, $135,000, $60,000 and $105,000 in Years 2 to 5) and not depreciated, which is the cautious treatment. By Year 5 each site averages 290 subscribers, with business customers counted once.
- Backhaul has two parts. Committed IP transit costs a planning figure of $1.50 per Mbps a month, and the plan buys 3 Mbps of busy-hour capacity for each residential subscriber and 9 Mbps for each business subscriber, with a $22,000 minimum commitment in Year 1. Site links are the second part. Together they cost $36,400 in Year 1 and $274,100 in Year 5, which is roughly $7 to $9 per average subscriber per month and 7.4% of Year 5 revenue.
- Support staffing follows the subscriber count at roughly one representative per 700 to 850 subscribers: one at the end of Year 1, then 2, 3, 4 and 5. Installer-technicians go from two in Year 1 to three in Year 2 and four in Year 5, and cover repairs as well as new installs. Leases, backhaul and subscriber hardware sit under operating costs, so the gross profit line carries only card fees and billing software and reads about 97%. After those three costs the margin is 48% in Year 1 and 79% in Year 5, and the EBITDA line is the better test of the model.
- Payroll on-costs are 27% of wages and cover payroll taxes, health cover, workers' compensation for tower and rooftop work and a retirement match. Wages are launch-year rates, with 3% raises from Year 2 shown on their own line. The founder is paid $95,000 from month 1. Insurance of $26,000 in Year 1 covers general liability, work at height, cyber risk and equipment, and vehicle cover sits in the vehicle line. Professional fees of $16,000 cover accounting and FCC and lease counsel.
- Marketing is $66,000 of running spend in Year 1 plus $30,000 of launch costs, rising to $230,000 by Year 5. Spread over gross additions, the cost per new subscriber is about $141 in Year 1, $111 in Year 2 as launch costs drop out, $127 in Year 3, $180 in Year 4 and $214 in Year 5, because the closest blocks sign first and later sign-ups cost more.
- Receivables run 6 days, because residential customers pay by card or bank debit at the start of each month and only business accounts are invoiced. Stock is the radios and routers on the shelf, a few weeks of installs. Bad debt is allowed at $3,000 in Year 1, rising to $20,000 in Year 5.
- The model taxes the company as a C corporation at 21% federal and 9.5% Illinois (7% income tax plus a 2.5% replacement tax, per the Tax Foundation's Illinois page). Rates may change, and an S corporation election would move the tax to the owners. Year 1 and Year 2 losses are carried forward and offset Year 3 profit and most of Year 4 profit in full; federal rules limit how much taxable income carried-forward losses can offset in a year, so a CPA would confirm the timing. Distributions of $150,000 in Year 4 and $300,000 in Year 5 start only once cash can bear them.
Revenue by plan type
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential subscriptions (50, 100 and 250 Mbps tiers) | $318,241 | $1,047,100 | $1,922,700 | $2,598,500 | $3,100,500 |
| Small-business plans (shared and dedicated) | $55,470 | $163,200 | $285,900 | $391,500 | $474,800 |
| Installation fees | $72,771 | $132,500 | $133,300 | $114,300 | $112,600 |
| Total revenue | $446,482 | $1,342,800 | $2,341,900 | $3,104,300 | $3,687,900 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 201% | 74% | 33% | 19% |
Residential plans bring in 71% of Year 1 revenue and 84% of Year 5 revenue. Business plans are 12% of Year 1 and 13% of Year 5, but at $215 a month a business customer is worth nearly three households, and the business accounts manager starts in month 16 to find them. Installation fees are 16% of Year 1 revenue and fall to 3% by Year 5, so the plan lives or dies on the monthly bill.
The first twelve months of build-out
| Month | Residential subscriptions (50, 100 and 250 Mbps tiers) | Small-business plans (shared and dedicated) | Installation fees | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $5,313 | $1,290 | $3,468 | $10,071 | ($59,147) |
| Feb 2027 | $7,700 | $1,720 | $3,666 | $13,086 | ($56,233) |
| Mar 2027 | $10,626 | $2,150 | $4,458 | $17,234 | ($52,224) |
| Apr 2027 | $14,322 | $2,795 | $5,697 | $22,814 | ($46,831) |
| May 2027 | $18,711 | $3,440 | $6,687 | $28,838 | ($41,008) |
| Jun 2027 | $23,639 | $3,870 | $7,479 | $34,988 | ($35,064) |
| Jul 2027 | $28,798 | $4,730 | $8,124 | $41,652 | ($28,623) |
| Aug 2027 | $33,957 | $5,590 | $8,322 | $47,869 | ($22,615) |
| Sep 2027 | $38,808 | $6,450 | $7,926 | $53,184 | ($17,478) |
| Oct 2027 | $42,735 | $7,310 | $6,936 | $56,981 | ($13,808) |
| Nov 2027 | $45,738 | $7,740 | $5,499 | $58,977 | ($11,879) |
| Dec 2027 | $47,894 | $8,385 | $4,509 | $60,788 | ($10,128) |
Sign-ups follow the weather: winter installs are slow, spring and summer are the busiest, and autumn is the last good window before ice. Summer foliage also makes more addresses fail the line-of-sight survey. EBITDA is negative in every month of Year 1, from a loss of about $59,000 in January to about $10,000 in December, because three sites and five staff run ahead of 661 subscribers. After setting receivables aside, month-end cash is lowest in Dec, at about $527,000.
Field, support and network headcount
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder and general manager | $95,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Network engineer (RF and routing) | $92,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Installer-technician | $58,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Support representative | $46,000 | Month 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second installer-technician | $58,000 | Month 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Business accounts manager | $62,000 | Month 16 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second support representative | $46,000 | Month 19 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Third installer-technician | $58,000 | Month 20 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tower and network technician | $66,000 | Month 22 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Operations manager | $82,000 | Month 25 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Billing and collections administrator | $52,000 | Month 31 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Third support representative | $48,000 | Month 36 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Fourth support representative | $48,000 | Month 40 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Second tower and network technician | $66,000 | Month 42 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Fourth installer-technician | $58,000 | Month 50 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Second network engineer | $95,000 | Month 50 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Fifth support representative | $48,000 | Month 52 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $404,072 | $583,142 | $880,110 | $1,063,625 | $1,337,628 |
Year 1 opens with Teresa, a network engineer and one installer-technician. A support representative joins in month 4 and a second installer in month 5, ahead of the summer install peak. The business accounts manager follows in month 16, a second support representative in month 19, a third installer in month 20 and a tower technician in month 22. Year 3 adds an operations manager in month 25, a billing administrator in month 31 and a third support representative in month 36. Year 4 adds a fourth support representative and a second tower technician, and Year 5 a fourth installer, a second network engineer and a fifth support representative. Headcount is 5 at the end of Year 1, then 9, 12, 14 and 17. Teresa's $95,000 sits inside the payroll line, so every profit figure is after her pay. The Bureau of Labor Statistics page for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers lists median pay of $66,200 (May 2025), against $58,000 for the plan's installers and $66,000 for its tower technicians.
Profit and loss
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $446,482 | $1,342,800 | $2,341,900 | $3,104,300 | $3,687,900 |
| Direct costs (card and ACH fees, billing platform) | ($14,948) | ($44,958) | ($78,408) | ($103,934) | ($123,473) |
| Gross profit | $431,534 | $1,297,842 | $2,263,492 | $3,000,366 | $3,564,427 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($404,072) | ($583,142) | ($880,110) | ($1,063,625) | ($1,337,627) |
| Rent | ($38,000) | ($39,100) | ($40,300) | ($41,500) | ($42,700) |
| Utilities | ($5,400) | ($5,800) | ($6,200) | ($6,600) | ($7,000) |
| Marketing | ($66,000) | ($140,000) | ($160,000) | ($195,000) | ($230,000) |
| Insurance | ($26,000) | ($30,000) | ($34,000) | ($38,000) | ($42,000) |
| Professional fees | ($16,000) | ($18,000) | ($20,000) | ($22,000) | ($24,000) |
| Software subscriptions | ($21,000) | ($30,000) | ($40,000) | ($48,000) | ($55,000) |
| Tower and rooftop site leases (with power) | ($27,600) | ($55,200) | ($89,700) | ($124,200) | ($151,800) |
| Backhaul: IP transit and links from each site | ($36,400) | ($98,800) | ($172,100) | ($231,100) | ($274,100) |
| Subscriber radios, routers and mounts (net of recovered units) | ($154,100) | ($280,600) | ($282,300) | ($242,000) | ($238,600) |
| Site build-outs for sites 4 to 12 and added vans (expensed) | $0 | ($60,000) | ($135,000) | ($60,000) | ($105,000) |
| Vehicle fuel, repair and insurance | ($16,000) | ($24,000) | ($30,000) | ($36,000) | ($42,000) |
| Spectrum and FCC filings, state and city fees | ($5,000) | ($6,000) | ($7,000) | ($8,000) | ($9,000) |
| Network equipment replacement and spares | ($8,000) | ($28,000) | ($42,000) | ($56,000) | ($70,000) |
| Bad debt allowance | ($3,000) | ($8,000) | ($13,000) | ($17,000) | ($20,000) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($17,494) | ($53,599) | ($98,627) | ($167,884) |
| EBITDA | ($395,038) | ($126,293) | $258,183 | $712,714 | $747,716 |
| Depreciation | ($49,143) | ($49,143) | ($49,143) | ($49,143) | ($49,143) |
| Interest | ($27,963) | ($23,382) | ($17,546) | ($11,130) | ($4,078) |
| Income tax | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($49,306) | ($197,966) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($472,144) | ($198,818) | $191,495 | $603,135 | $496,529 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal, licensing, launch marketing) | ($60,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($532,144) | ($198,818) | $191,495 | $603,135 | $496,529 |
Year 1 loses $472,144 before start-up costs and $532,144 after the $60,000 of legal, licensing and launch spend. Year 2 loses $198,818 as five sites and nine staff are carried at 1,685 subscribers. Year 3 is the first profitable year, at $191,495, an 8.2% net margin, as monthly revenue passes the $172,898 needed to cover operating costs. Net margin peaks at 19.4% in Year 4, when carried-forward losses still shelter most of the tax, and settles at 13.5% in Year 5 once tax is fully due, pay raises reach $167,884 and the fourth installer, second engineer, fifth support representative, two more sites and a van arrive. Payroll including raises stays between 37% and 45% of revenue from Year 2 onward.
Cash movements
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($493,093) | ($169,935) | $218,054 | $635,045 | $532,481 |
| Network equipment, vehicles and field gear | ($300,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $1,350,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Loan principal repaid | ($27,381) | ($58,806) | ($64,643) | ($71,059) | ($78,111) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($150,000) | ($300,000) |
| Net change in cash | $529,525 | ($228,742) | $153,411 | $413,987 | $154,370 |
| Closing cash | $529,525 | $300,783 | $454,195 | $868,181 | $1,022,551 |
Cash ends every year above zero. It falls from $529,525 at the end of Year 1 to $300,783 at the end of Year 2, the lowest year-end balance, as losses, loan payments and the first two new sites continue, and then climbs as operating cash flow turns positive. The loan is fully repaid in Year 5, and both distributions are paid from cash that has already covered the repayments.
Balance sheet
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $529,525 | $300,783 | $454,195 | $868,181 | $1,022,551 |
| Accounts receivable | $7,339 | $22,073 | $38,497 | $51,030 | $60,623 |
| Radio and router stock | $3,572 | $10,742 | $18,735 | $24,834 | $29,503 |
| Network equipment, vehicles and field gear (net) | $250,857 | $201,714 | $152,571 | $103,429 | $54,286 |
| Total assets | $791,294 | $535,314 | $663,998 | $1,047,474 | $1,166,963 |
| Accounts payable (transit carriers, site landlords, equipment vendors) | $819 | $2,463 | $4,296 | $5,695 | $6,766 |
| Bank loan | $272,619 | $213,812 | $149,169 | $78,111 | $0 |
| Paid-in capital | $1,050,000 | $1,050,000 | $1,050,000 | $1,050,000 | $1,050,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($532,144) | ($730,962) | ($539,468) | ($86,332) | $110,197 |
| Total liabilities and equity | $791,294 | $535,314 | $663,998 | $1,047,474 | $1,166,963 |
Margins, cover and break-even
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -88.5% | -9.4% | 11.0% | 23.0% | 20.3% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -105.7% | -14.8% | 8.2% | 19.4% | 13.5% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 91% | 45% | 40% | 37% | 41% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $89,296 | $149,200 | $195,158 | $221,736 | $216,935 |
| Average monthly revenue | $37,207 | $111,900 | $195,158 | $258,692 | $307,325 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $71,267 | $122,789 | $172,898 | $197,241 | $242,857 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -7.1x | -1.5x | 3.1x | 8.7x | 9.1x |
The last rows of the ratios table compare average monthly revenue with the revenue needed to cover all operating costs. Year 1 averages $37,207 a month against $71,267 needed, and Year 2 falls short again at $111,900 against $122,789. Year 3 clears the line, at $195,158 against $172,898. Debt service cover is negative in the first two years and is 3.1x in Year 3, 8.7x in Year 4 and 9.1x in Year 5. Revenue per full-time equivalent rises from $89,296 to about $217,000.
Slower sign-ups: revenue 20% under plan
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $357,186 | $1,074,240 | $1,873,520 | $2,483,440 | $2,950,320 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($521,121) | ($251,700) | ($11,700) | $224,585 | $198,369 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($581,121) | ($251,700) | ($11,700) | $224,585 | $198,369 |
| Closing cash | $482,567 | $204,995 | $159,729 | $348,612 | $507,460 |
This case cuts every revenue line by 20% in every year, which is the same as slower sign-ups, fewer business accounts and a smaller base for each site to spread its cost over. Management responds in five ways: every hire from month 13 onward starts six months later, half the Year 2 and Year 3 site build-out spend is deferred, marketing falls 20%, Teresa takes a 20% pay cut, and the Year 4 and Year 5 distributions are suspended. Even so, the company loses more than the base case in Years 1 to 3 and earns less in Years 4 and 5, and year-end cash never drops below $159,729, above the $100,000 covenant. Equity at the end of Year 1 is $468,879. Leases and backhaul on sites already built stay in place, because cutting them would leave subscribers unserved. Year 3 is the tightest point, and a lender would be told early if sign-ups ran this far behind.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, Occupational Outlook Handbook; median pay of $66,200 for May 2025, as shown on the page when this plan was built.
- Tax Foundation, Illinois state tax data: a 7% corporate income tax plus a 2.5% personal property replacement tax, 9.5% combined. Rates may change.
- FCC, Broadband Data Collection and National Broadband Map (fcc.gov/BroadbandData and broadbandmap.fcc.gov): the page could not be opened when this plan was built, so the filing obligations described here are stated generally and counsel confirms the current rules.
- FCC rules for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service and unlicensed bands: not opened for this plan, so no band-specific claim is made beyond the interference and rule-change risk, and counsel confirms the current rules.
- Transit prices, site lease rates, equipment costs and subscriber pricing are planning figures for a fictional company, not quotes, and Chicago market prices may differ.
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