Buying a telecom or internet provider in South Florida

• Few customers leaving each month, and an average bill that's steady or rising.
• A documented network: maps, device lists, IP addresses, passwords, and someone besides the owner who can run it.
• Long site leases that can be assigned to a new owner.
• Equipment that isn't near the end of its life, so you don't face replacing every radio right after closing.
• More than one upstream bandwidth connection, so one cut line doesn't take everyone down.
• A mix of home and business customers. Businesses usually pay more and leave less often.
• For installers: general contractors and property managers who keep coming back, and properly licensed people for the work that needs a license.

• Subscribers. Pull counts from the billing system and match them to bank deposits. Note how many are on promotional or grandfathered pricing.
• Competition. Check the FCC's National Broadband Map and ask whether a cable or fiber company, or a grant-funded project, is building in the service area.
• Site leases. Terms, rent increases and assignment clauses. A tower or building owner who won't consent to a transfer can leave customers stranded.
• Contracts. Bandwidth commitments, minimums and termination fees with the carriers that supply bandwidth.
• Storm readiness. Generators, batteries, spares, and how long restoration took after the last hurricane.
• Filings. FCC coverage reports, communications services tax returns and any federal fund contributions for phone service should be current.
• Key person. If the network lives in the owner's head, plan a long, paid handover.

• How many customers left last year, and what were the main reasons?
• If you were away for a month, who could keep the network running?
• Which sites are leased, and could those leases move to a new owner?
• What happened in the last big storm, and how long until everyone was back online?
• Is anyone building fiber or cable in your area that you're watching?
• What upgrades do you think the network will need in the next couple of years?
• Are your FCC filings and communications tax returns up to date?
• Where do most new customers come from?

South Florida covers Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties: Miami, Hialeah, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, and the Florida Keys down to Key West. It's the state's largest metro area and its most international. PortMiami, Port Everglades and Miami International Airport tie the region to Latin America and the Caribbean, which supports a deep base of wholesalers, freight forwarders and logistics firms, many of them near the airport. Tourism and cruises, finance and wealth management, health care, real estate and construction carry much of the rest. Palm Beach County adds wealthy seasonal residents and, out west near Lake Okeechobee, sugarcane and vegetable farms. In the Keys, nearly everything turns on visitors, fishing and boating.

Companies that serve homes, condo buildings and other businesses do well here: the building trades, property services, insurance agencies, medical and dental practices, and professional firms.

Costs run high: commercial rent, wages and, above all, property and windstorm insurance. Price the insurance before you make an offer, not after. Miami-Dade and Broward make up the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, with stricter rules for roofs, windows and structures. That raises building costs, and it also gives steady work to the contractors who know those rules well.

Much of the workforce and many customers speak Spanish as well as English, and a company that works well in both languages has an edge. The winter season matters more in Palm Beach County and the Keys than in Miami. In the Keys, the cost of housing makes hiring and keeping staff one of the hardest parts of running a company. Ask any seller there how they find workers and where those workers live.