An open letter to all the Vendors to the ISP Industry: These are interesting times in telecom. With the Mega-Mergers, FCC Forbearance dockets, Brand-X, and state and federal deregulatory bills. The MSOs and the RBOCs keep getting bigger and have already picked their dance partners. Independent ISPs, like any small business in America, choose to work with vendors that will provide the best fit. The Independent ISPs for America is looking to work with Vendors that understand the industry and realize that to participate with an organization such as ours would benefit the entire industry -  the vendors and the members. By many estimates, the number of IISPs has dwindled from 7000 to less than 2000 - with more closing every day. If the Independent ISP were to vanish, who would you vendors sell to? CPE and other hardware manufacturers would have to fight for shelf and eyeball space to the consumer, battling the free hardware offered by the industry big dogs. Wholesale Dial providers would have to sell to enterprise customers, for ISPs and CLECs are their target market. Or they would be faced with the prospect of selling retail against nationwide dial-up providers like EartLink and AOL and their low-cost subsidiaries. To that end, we understand that everyone has to make a profit. We want vendors to participate in the organization financially as well as intelligiently. And we will support those vendor members any way we can. The time is short. After Brand-X and the Mergers, the industry has changed irrepairably. We need help to educate the politicians that the Independent ISPs are a vital piece of the Internet Industry and the economy as a whole. Help us any way you can: lend us a lawyer or a writer; become an affiliate member; or advertise with us. Thank you. Peter Radizeski Interim Executive Director    If you are interested in joining our organization, Independent ISPs for America, Inc., please contact us at 813.496.2122 or isps@ii4a.org