Wholesale Modem Update – We Want Your Feedback!

Marketing & Strategy
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Hey everyone,

We’re always looking for ways to improve the wholesale experience and ensure that our partners have the best tools and pricing to build successful ISPs. One of the key discussions we want to open up to the community is how we structure hardware costs and what makes the most sense for your businesses.

The Importance of Upfront Hardware Costs

Charging an upfront cost for hardware is one of the best defenses against fraud and abuse . It ensures that customers have some level of commitment when receiving their modems and helps protect you from financial losses due to modem theft or bad actors.
Even a small upfront cost—$50 or $100 —can significantly reduce the risk of fraud. That’s why, as part of our efforts to support wholesalers, we’ve already reduced the price of our $350 modem down to just $100 for this month . We believe this makes it more affordable for you while maintaining a balance between growth and financial sustainability .

Exploring Additional Modem Pricing Options – Your Input Needed!

One idea we are considering is offering even lower modem pricing in exchange for longer-term commitments (e.g., 1-year or 2-year terms).
Would this be beneficial to your business?
The idea behind this model is simple:

  • Lower modem costs upfront, reducing barriers to acquiring new customers.
  • A structured commitment that ensures sustainability and reduces churn.
  • An opportunity to provide customers with higher-end, premium modems without taking on excessive risk.

We know that there’s always a temptation to give away modems for free or offer them at extremely low costs. However, with high-quality, premium modems, the risk of fraud and loss becomes too high to sustain long-term growth. Striking the right balance between affordability and risk mitigation is key, and we want your input on what makes the most sense for you.

Community Discussion – How Can We Improve?

We’d love to hear from you! Specifically:
Would lower modem pricing in exchange for a 1- or 2-year term be something you’d be interested in?
What’s your ideal structure for modem pricing and commitments?
How do you currently protect against fraud and modem loss, and what challenges are you facing?
Drop your thoughts in the group—we’re excited to shape these decisions with your feedback in mind .
We appreciate all of you being part of this community and helping us refine the wholesale model to make it as strong and sustainable as possible . Let’s work together to make this the best platform for all ISPs!
Looking forward to your insights!

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Personally, we would prefer to offer both a purchase and a lease option for the modem. The ideal setup, purchase the modem or lease the modem without any commitments. That is the number one question we get… “Is there a contract?”

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That’s good feedback to hear. We find the same thing at Nomad.

Also, great work!!! You guys are already getting new customer set up!!

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I definitely would like to offer a modem rental fee to rent modem on monthly basis, offer a discount on the purchase of modems if they sign a 1-2 year price lock agreement on the monthly price. Giving people options will help with sales, some people don’t like paying a rental fee for equipment and would rather purchase outright. Others don’t mind paying a monthly fee to lease/rent equipment as long as it’s guaranteed if it fails and others prefer to purchase the equipment and not be in contract or rather get equipment rebate or discount for a contract. Having these options helps letting the customers choose. Must have early termination fees, full equipment cost if the service is cancelled or nonpayment or not returned. Must collect credit card/debit card with pre authorization fee of $300-500 to make sure cards have enough credit/funds. I worked for Comcast/Xfinity as a tech/installer and then sales, some people did not like equipment fees and others did not care. Must be upfront and transparent with all cost and fees.

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This is good feedback. We are also able to black list devices that are not returned back

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