The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):
ISP
1. Internet Service Provider.
2. Instruction Set Processor.
The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
ISP
/I·S·P/
Common abbreviation for Internet Service Provider, a kind of company that
barely existed before 1993. ISPs sell Internet access to the mass market.
While the big nationwide commercial BBSs with Internet access (like America
Online, CompuServe, GEnie, Netcom, etc.) are technically ISPs, the term is
usually reserved for local or regional small providers (often run by
hackers turned entrepreneurs) who resell Internet access cheaply without
themselves being information providers or selling advertising. Compare NSP
.