It is a hidden cost and will matter in the long run when people start accessing the Net more and more as they will pay higher telephone bills. It will also allow providers like MTNL and VSNL to continue their monopoly as they have their own networks. They can even afford not to charge anything for Internet access. Personnel Cost ISPs need to spend on manpower who would be employed on either the technical services, marketing of the ISPs services as also building content for bundling in with the ISP's access services. Revenues for ISPs Access charges This is the fee the ISP subscriber pays to the ISP for being able to access the Internet through the ISPs network.
Access charges are likely to remain the major contributor to revenues for most ISPs.
Income from other value added services With the stiff competition in the plain-vanilla access market, ISPs need to graduate to offering their customers a host of value added services. Revenue sharing with telecom companies Many ISPs in Europe are trying out a model where they offer their services to consumers free of cost or at very low prices. This causes a very high volume of traffic for those ISPs and is also beneficial to the telecom operator who provides the circuit for local dial-up. On-line advertisements Most ISPs also have portals. A fortune in black gold.