Contents
1. Telecom -- Keep Your Building Online
2. BOMA Fights Forced Access

1. Telecommunications -- Keep Your Building Online...
Remember John Gilbert's mantra at PikeNet 99? "Location, bandwidth, location." John Gilbert is the COO of Rudin Management in New York City, a leader in providing high-speed connectivity to his tenants, including those at 55 Broad Street, the New York Information Technology Center. I thought of John recently when a PikeNet subscriber sent me an e-mail seeking statistics on what kinds of new services owners and managers of office buildings are offering their tenants. "What kind of media is being used -- wireless, fiber optic or satellite? Who owns the internal wires connecting the outside service providers to tenants? Are owners repackaging/reselling services to their tenants?" Hmm.

So I re-visited the 55 Broad site, which was one of the real pioneers, having been launched in 1995. Wow, if you click on "The Building" on the home page and then the ITC 55 icon, you'll go to a page listing the wired features of the building. These include Single- and Multi-Mode Fiber Optics, High Speed Category 5 Copper Wire, Satellite Accessibility, Video Conferencing Facilities, DS-3, T-1, Fractional T-1, 10-100 Mbps of Bandwidth Available, ISDN, LAN and WAN Connectivity, State-of-the-Art Voice, Video and Data Transmission, Advanced Telecom and Data Security, Hot Wired for Cable, OC-48 Switching Capacity, Local Dial Tone Access Providers, Long Distance Access Providers, and Internet Access Providers. ... Hey, you may not understand the lingo. But, if you listen to Gilbert, you'd better start learning because that's what your tenants will need to know.

2. BOMA Fights Forced Access... Now it gets even more complicated for landlords. ... Listen to the latest warning from BOMA's Potomac Currents (July 23, 1999) about the dangers of "forced access." Karen Penafiel writes: "... policy changes under consideration by Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and several states could result in 'forced access' to BOMA members' buildings for the benefit of any and all telecommunications service providers. What is euphemistically called 'nondiscriminatory access' by some could easily cost the real estate industry billions of dollars annually in both lost revenues as well as additional safety, security and liability expenses." ... Can you imagine how much fun it would be to have a couple of geeks crawling around your risers installing cabling and hardware in response to a tenant's demands for telecom service from Woodstock Communications? Oh yeah, that would be exciting.

Question... How are you connecting to the Internet? What services does your building offer? Who owns the wires inside your risers? Should landlords offer bundled services? Are there firms that provide unbiased counsel in addressing telecommunications issues? ... Send e-mail to me and I'll report more in future Dispatches.

--Peter