Wireless point-to-point links are comparatively cheap, but require clear line of sight, uncontested spectrum and power. Sometimes you have none of those. Wireless also scales poorly past 1 Gbps.
Fiber is more expensive up front, but cheaper in the long run if your bandwidth requirements grow. Fiber also does not become obsolete, like wireless equipment.
> If you can guarantee a rate of return, getting money from any bank sounds easy.
Sadly this isn't true. Banks lend you money if you have collateral.
> And if take rate is 60%, then those that take the offer have to pay 100%/60%=166% of what they would have payed with a 100% take rate.
That only works if the customers are willing to pay 166%. The shit really hits the fan if you get the take rate wrong and your costs exceed what your customers have agreed to pay.
The Brand X decision killed local loop unbundling in the US. So unless you own the copper plant this is a no-go. If you are outside the US, even then there are problems as access to subloops can be hard to get.
Well, unless you bury your wires, sooner of later somebody is going to find out you did the dirty deed. Then all they have to do is follow the cable to your house and fine you.
Unless you plan to do this purely on private property, you are going to have to negotiate and pay for access to public right of way.
Also, even if you only did this on private property and did not cross any roads or other public spaces, you'd be SOL if your neighbor wasn't a node and they didn't feel like giving you permission to cross their property.
You don't have to be a CLEC to access right of way, including ducts and poles. It's enough to be a BIAS (Broadband Interner Access Provider), which you already are.
The biggest problem is: where is the money going to come from?
Even if you guarantee a rate of return, somebody still needs to finance the buildout.
Second issue is, how will infrastructure that is installed, but not used be paid for? Take rate is rarely 100%, so who is going to pay for that part and how?
> we tried relentlessly to contact our local utilities to gain access to their underground conduit and was never able to get someone on the phone or even much of a response.
I find that really hard to believe. Go to their offices and ask for the manager.
> I eventually got to the point where I was like, "Fk it, I'll do it on my own." Now we're looking at microtrenching, which is probably an even larger endeavor, but at least we'll own the conduit.
Building your own facilities is no joke. Unless you are made out of money, you'll be far better off putting more effort into renting existing ducts.