How Smart Is Your Office Building? by Lesley Hensell Just a few years ago, most businesses' concerns with telecommunications stopped at determining which long distance plan worked best for them. But now, with connectivity being key in almost every industry, telecom has come center stage with smart and wired buildings. This week, national telecommunications powerhouses announced the formation of a new coalition to promote the rapid spread of competitive local voice, data and Internet choices through the creation of “smart buildings.” Yet another product of deregulation, this alliance includes large companies seeking out greater market share by nudging historically poor performers out the door. This coalition was put together by the Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS). Unfortunately, ALTS believes that the government should force access to the nation's 280,000 office buildings, something most real estate companies stand firmly against. “We're pleased ALTS is encouraging its members to bring new telecommunications choices to tenants through its Smart Building Coalition,” said Roger Platt, spokesman for the Real Access Alliance. “It's a shame, however, that successful, highly profitable telecom companies want the government to give them an advantage over other providers who negotiate for access to privately owned buildings in the free market. “The tremendous success of ALTS members obtaining building access undercuts their argument that government-mandated rights of entry are necessary,” Platt said. “The sheer numbers of contracts being signed every day between property owners and telecom providers to deliver the technologies tenants want shows that the market is working and that new, burdensome regulations are completely unwarranted.” The Real Access Alliance was formed to encourage free market competition among telecommunications companies while safeguarding the constitutional private property rights of America's real estate owners. So what's the big deal with forced access? Well, if forced access is passed into law, building owners will have to allow an unmanageable number of telecom service providers to wire their buildings. This would mean greatly expanding the size of tech closets, as well as greatly increased administrative hassles and security concerns. Real estate owners maintain they should not be required by Congress to allow any vendor on their property. The numbers are in on telecom. In the past two years, telecom stocks have gone through the roof, with incredible earnings reports and continued high growth potential. But when it comes to access, though, the companies cry poor. Winstar, an ALTS member leading the lobbying effort for government-forced access to private buildings, told investors in a May 4 press release that its network build-out is already one year ahead of projections. Winstar also claimed that it had access rights to “approximately 1,700” new buildings in the first quarter of this year -- a 20 percent increase from the prior quarter -- for a cumulative total of 9,700 buildings. In the same release, it projected increasing “over the next 12 to 18 months ... the number of businesses in buildings directly connected to the Winstar network by almost five-fold, to approximately 250,000 businesses.” So why does the company need to take away the property rights of real estate owners with forced building access? Another highly profitable ALTS member -- Teligent, Inc. -- said in a June 7 press release that the company now serves business customers in “41 of the nation's top metropolitan areas” with a combined population of more than 101 million customers. And according to industry intelligence, Teligent has obtained access agreements for 7,500 buildings, but has brought service to only 3,000. “Anyone who reads the annual reports of these companies, who are begging for government aid, would reach the same conclusion -- that the market today for telecom choice is working,” Platt said. “More regulations are not needed here.” The case against forced building access gets even stronger in light of a recent survey of office building tenants. According to the study, property owners facilitate 98 percent of tenant requests for access to a particular telecom service provider. | 
