![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/04\/Jason-Lund-JLL.png?w=544\")
Deep shifts are underway in how workers use tech, so telecommunications infrastructures within buildings and cities\u2014cellular networks, fiber and cable networks, even electrical grids\u2014are working overtime to accommodate both in-office and hybrid work models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn office buildings, we\u2019re not getting the same level of cellular connectivity that we used to because the frequencies themselves have changed and how we\u2019re using our cell phones has changed,\u201d said Jason Lund, managing director with JLL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is particularly true since a good portion communications with teammembers and clients today are virtual. \u201cWe\u2019re draining a lot more of the signal in both the Wi-Fi frequencies and the cellular frequencies than we ever have, and that\u2019s putting a lot of stress on the old equipment from 4 or 5 years ago,\u201d Lund continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He likens the situation in some buildings to a watering hole: \u201cIf there\u2019s five animals drinking, that\u2019s okay,\u201d Lund noted. \u201cIf there\u2019s 50 animals drinking, they drain it dry. So, we\u2019re getting more and more calls from our clients going, \u2018Hey, we can\u2019t get cellular anymore.\u2019 \u2018Hey, Wi-Fi is slow now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If owners aren\u2019t responsive, he warns, tenants can get impatient and fix it themselves. Or start looking for new watering holes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
READ ALSO:<\/strong> Infrastructure Upgrades Are Critical for CRE\u2019s Future<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jason Shepard, managing principal with Cresa MCS, pointed out another growing demand on telecommunications infrastructure. \u201cAs the software industry shifted to delivering products via the software-as-a-service cloud model, the proximity between a SaaS provider\u2019s servers and the end customer makes a difference,\u201d Sheperd said. \u201cWhether that\u2019s in a server room in customers\u2019 office buildings, in a stand-alone data center or in third-party data centers, the fiber distance\/latency, levels of capacity and redundancy become increasingly important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To better handle all this, Lund suggested viewing telecom infrastructure as three-layered. First comes the base networks, which are basically the cables that come into the building and up to its various floors to serve the tenants through docking stations or directly into computers or phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second is Wi-Fi\u2014similar to cellular service in that both operate on radio frequencies\u2014often used for access to printers and other equipment. Third is cellular. The older model was simpler in just relying on outside towers for the cellular signal.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the rub. While tenants and employees raise their expectations, the budget to make it happen often does not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For space to be competitive currently, state-of-the-art technology is assumed, and the connectivity is expected to be first-class, remarked Barton DeLacy, executive director at Cushman & Wakefield. \u201cWhat\u2019s keeping a lot of Class B and C, and frankly even older Class A buildings, empty is the cost of tenant improvements, and the technology is very much part of that,\u201d DeLacy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In multiple markets, he added there are \u201cwhole floors of see-through buildings,\u201d but the cost to upgrade them for new tenants can\u2019t be supported by the rents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n READ ALSO:<\/strong> GenAI Is Coming for Your Tech Roadmap<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n And there\u2019s another aspect to the question of who\u2019s paying for telecommunications upgrades. \u201cWith office occupancies falling on average, and some buildings selling at steep discounts to previous sales, capital for renovations, upgrades etc., is a challenge today,\u201d said Aaron Jodka, research director for U.S. capital markets at Colliers. \u201cSome lenders have pulled back on office financing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n So, who does pay for better technology infrastructure? Lund reasoned that, in some cases, building owners are partnering with large tenants, while in others there\u2019s still a debate. \u201cIf you get in a cellular system to serve the whole building, and it serves a particular tenant, then that\u2019s great,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if that tenant leaves, then it\u2019s still serving the building. So maybe the building owner should have the cost. But if you get in a system that serves a large tenant in the building, and that\u2019s the only place that\u2019s served, then maybe the tenant should bear the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, when the money can be found, the investment reaps dividends. Lund describes an office high-rise in Charlotte that JLL helped a client renovate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The client found that people liked to work on the building\u2019s outside patio, so the renovation included extending the Wi-Fi there, as well as to an amenity space that covers almost an entire floor. The result, Lund continued, was that employees in the building can leave their offices and work freely in those other spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jason Jones, managing principal and head of Cresa’s Business Technology Sourcing Group, cautioned that tenants should start their process of ordering telecom circuits \u201cmuch earlier than they think.\u201d If cable or fiber service has not yet been established in a building under consideration, tenants have to take into account the time it will take to design, construct and install the needed equipment. Just by itself, he said, this could take at least 90 days, but often takes several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is in addition to the typical 30 to 90 days to execute a \u201cright of entry\u201d agreement, a contract between the carrier and the landlord setting the terms and conditions of allowing internet service to be established in the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it can be even more complex than that, added Arie Barendrecht, founder & CEO of WiredScore. \u201cWhile demand has only gone up, ensuring a building can support these requirements on move-in day is no easier than it was several years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cFor example, creating new, secure underground fiber entrances into buildings is still a long and expensive process with multiple parties involved, and needs to be planned long in advance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the issues with keeping telecommunications infrastructure current and functional arrive from different directions, so do the solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One element is flexibility because that\u2019s what tenants expect. Office occupiers now, especially smaller ones, often decline a traditional five- or 10-year lease, Lund mentioned. A tenant might ask for a 38-month lease, for only a portion of a floor, with no long-term contracts for internet access. Yet they still need firewall protection, monitoring and cloud access. And if they don\u2019t necessarily have a walled-off space, it\u2019s hard to know where to run cables. And the tenant expects to be billed for only what they use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If tenants find out too late, after a lease is signed, that they have poor cell coverage, Jones noted, they still have options, such as signal boosters and repeaters, or distributed antenna systems. There are also short-term solutions such as satellite or month-to-month cellular service.<\/p>\n\n\n Jones also recommends considering a \u201cwired cellular\u201d solution such as one from the Wireless Infrastructure Group, a U.K.-based company with a growing U.S. presence. He describes it as \u201ca new model for bringing in a wired connection of cellular service that is then \u2018beamed\u2019 throughout the building wherever repeaters are placed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It isn\u2019t just building owners and tenants who are wrestling with these issues. Angelina Panettieri, legislative director for information technology and communications at the National League of Cities<\/a>, remarked, said municipalities must also tackle this issue to stay competitive and to manage their own destinies. \u201cAn increasing number of communities are exploring building and\/or operating their own broadband infrastructure to gain some control over the distribution, cost and quality of that infrastructure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She recommended the Institute for Local Self-Reliance<\/a> as an excellent source of information about such municipal and cooperative networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read the May 2024 issue of CP<\/a>E.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New work patterns burden telecom systems, landlords and tenants. But it\u2019s fixable. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":882,"featured_media":1004711897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1521,21787,51037],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004711880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital","category-technology","category-trends"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\n\n\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/04\/iStock-879891706-Image-by-D3Damon.jpg?w=1024\")
Who\u2019s footing the bill?<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Barton](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/04\/Barton-DeLacy-Cushman-Wakefield.jpg?w=1024\")
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/04\/Aaron-Jodka-Colliers.jpg?w=1024\")
The Power of timing<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/04\/Jason-Jones-Cresa.jpg?w=1024\")
Multiple solutions<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Arie](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/04\/Arie-Barendrecht-WiredScore.jpg?w=1024\")
![\"Panettieri,](\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/04\/Panettieri-NLC.jpg?w=1024\")