Actually I see wireless as a way around alot of that. The phone company will charge you an arm and a leg for anything, but with wireless you don't need lots of dialup lines or to make your customers pay for dsl line charges. Thats alot of overhead gone. To me that is why wireless is appealing, yes there are other costs, but I think it really helps.
From reading and my ISP experience I've come up with a few guide lines I want to follow with my isp-to-be:
1.) Sell out: Yes, build up the business and sell it off. New technology comes along, up grades are expensive, and the service you provide becomes stale. I don't see an ISP as being "the family business." You start it, spend probably 5-7 max building it and get rid of it. Plan for it.
2.) Set your self apart: Come up with something new or at least a service not available in your area.
3.) Be prepared. Get good equipment and know how to use it. Nothing pisses off your customers more than downtime.
4.) Keep it decently fast. With broadband it used to be easy to say most of the traffic was "bursty" but with all these file sharing utilities, alot of people really want their full amount of bandwidth. Be sure that you're clear that there is a maximum speed and it is not guarenteed. People also get pissy about their bandwidth.
5.) Business is where it is at! Residential customers can pay the bills, but you're not going to make any real money without business services. They are almost pure profit, residential customers are almost pure cost Wait until you see the tech support demands both groups have though. Damn people are dumb!
6.) hmmmmm well I'm sure there is more but its late and I'm tired. I'm currently reading an O"Riley book on wireless called something like "Building Wireless Community Networks" It isn't specifically for the WISP but is a pretty good book and I'd recommend you read it.
I'm actually pretty anxious to hear from someone who works for/owns a wireless ISP. I've been hanging out at the local wireless shop and have my own insights, but I wanna' see others!
Actually hubbs, I'm also curious what you get out of this? Will you have stock in the company, you should. What functions will you perform there? What are you salary expectations? How long do you plan to stay with them?