The verdict in three sentences
A fixed-wireless ISP managing 4,500 business subscribers through WhatsApp and spreadsheets takes 30 hours on average to restore a link and loses 3 % of its customers every month. A custom ISP management platform costs 10,000,000 to 22,000,000 FCFA (about 15,200 to 33,500 EUR) in 2026: subscriber CRM, technician scheduling, SLA ticketing, recurring billing and antenna monitoring. The realistic target is restoration within 6 hours and monthly churn down to 1.5 %.
ISP software modules and their price
A regional ISP does not need a national carrier's OSS/BSS, often billed above 100,000,000 FCFA with integration. It needs a tool that connects the sales rep, the technician on the rooftop and the accountant.
| Module | Function | Indicative 2026 budget (FCFA) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscriber CRM | Contracts, plans and speeds, customer sites, antenna GPS coordinates, SLA commitment | 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 | 3 to 5 weeks |
| Installs and scheduling | Line-of-sight survey, mounting, alignment, activation, scheduling by team and district | 1,800,000 to 3,800,000 | 4 to 6 weeks |
| SLA ticketing | Opened via portal, email or WhatsApp, priorities, countdown, automatic escalation | 1,800,000 to 3,500,000 | 4 to 5 weeks |
| Recurring billing | Monthly subscriptions, pro rata, 19.25 % VAT, reminders, automatic suspension on non-payment | 2,000,000 to 4,500,000 | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Payments | MTN MoMo, Orange Money, bank transfer, bank reconciliation | 900,000 to 2,000,000 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Antenna monitoring | SNMP polling of radio equipment, outage detection, automatic ticket creation | 1,500,000 to 3,700,000 | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Customer portal and technician app | Ticket tracking, invoices, job photos, offline mode | 500,000 to 1,500,000 | 2 to 4 weeks |
Hosting costs 60,000 to 120,000 FCFA per month at this volume, maintenance 75,000 to 120,000 FCFA per month with on-call support. These are 2026 ballpark figures, excluding network equipment licences.
WhatsApp versus software: the effect on KPIs
The difference shows first on outages. When a customer's antenna goes down, monitoring opens the ticket before the customer even calls, and the nearest technician is assigned with the site's history.
| Indicator | WhatsApp and spreadsheets | With software (target) |
|---|---|---|
| Mean time to restore | 30 h | 6 h |
| Tickets with no follow-up or closure | 15 to 20 % | under 2 % |
| Time from signature to activation | 10 to 15 days | 3 to 5 days |
| Monthly churn | 3 % | 1.5 % |
| Average invoice payment delay | 60 to 75 days | 30 to 35 days |
| Invoices issued late | 10 to 15 % | under 1 % |
| Jobs per technician per day | 2 to 3 | 4 to 5 |
Technical decisions to make
- Equipment: list your base station and CPE brands. SNMP polling is built per equipment family, and each extra family adds 300,000 to 600,000 FCFA.
- SLA per plan: an SME customer and a bank do not have the same commitment. The software must calculate contractual penalties automatically when the deadline is missed.
- Tax: 19.25 % VAT and mandatory invoice mentions in Cameroon, with an export compatible with your accounting software.
- Data: subscriber data falls under Cameroon's 2024 personal data protection law, with secure hosting and logged access rights.
- Legacy migration: 4,500 contracts in spreadsheets need 2 to 3 weeks of cleaning before import.
Mini case study
Ms Ngo Biyong, CEO of a fixed-wireless ISP in Douala, bills her 4,500 business customers an average of 45,000 FCFA per month, or 202,500,000 FCFA in monthly revenue. Going from 3 % to 1.5 % churn means keeping about 67 subscribers per month, or 810 over a year. Conservatively counting six months of average revenue per retained subscriber, the effect reaches 810 x 45,000 x 6 = 218,700,000 FCFA (about 333,400 EUR) in year one. Even keeping only a third of that gain, about 73,000,000 FCFA, software priced at 16,000,000 FCFA plus 1,200,000 FCFA of yearly maintenance pays back in under three months.
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FAQ
Why not buy off-the-shelf ISP billing software?
Foreign solutions often cost 1 to 3 USD per subscriber per month, or 2,700,000 to 8,100,000 FCFA a year for 4,500 subscribers, without native MTN MoMo or Orange Money. Custom software becomes cheaper from year three and remains yours.
Can customers open a ticket through WhatsApp?
Yes, a WhatsApp Business number connected to the software creates the ticket and replies with a tracking number. Allow 600,000 to 1,200,000 FCFA for this integration, plus Meta's messaging fees.
Doesn't automatic suspension for unpaid bills upset customers?
It is configurable: reminder at D-5, on the due date and at D+7, speed reduction at D+10 and suspension at D+15, for example. A customer who pays by mobile money is reactivated in under 5 minutes.
How long until go-live?
Allow 4 to 5 months for the full core, with ticketing and CRM live from month two. Billing usually switches over at the start of a quarter to simplify closings.
Does the software also track antenna and router stock?
Yes, a simple stock module, 800,000 to 1,500,000 FCFA, tracks CPE by serial number from the warehouse to the customer's roof and flags equipment not returned after cancellation.
Let's scope your project. Send us your subscriber count, equipment brands and SLA commitments: we will price the software, from 10,000,000 to 22,000,000 FCFA, with a phased delivery plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.