| Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) | |||
| Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study | |||
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Executive Summary
The tide of telecommunications deregulation in the United States has turned markedly since the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Today we have an increasingly dynamic and competitive telecommunications environment, driven by both business and residential customer demand for broadband connectivity. Impelled by the Internet and its utilization, we are experiencing massive investments in new technologies and infrastructure, stimulating a remarkable worldwide economic expansion. As we continue to accomplish the deployment of more and faster high-capacity communications networks around our cities and across the nation, lack of access across the "last hundred feet" into the multitenant environment can still hinder the consumer's ability to take advantage of the wide range of service offerings being brought to market. Impediments to consumer access and choice can include: choices telecom providers make (or decline to make) for investing in local infrastructure and implementing their build-out; the need for interconnection and leasing agreements between providers; delays from licensing and regulatory processes and procedures; confusing or absent standards; incompatible technologies; and difficulty bridging the final distance from the telecom providers infrastructure to the multitenant building occupants' in-building equipment and networks.
As more and better telecommunications service choices proliferate, access to alternative competitive providers for both business and residential multitenant buildings tenants becomes an increasingly significant and critical issue. The Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council (ATIC), an Infrastructure Foundation of the Governor's Strategic Partnership for Economic Development (GSPED), has undertaken a review of the background and issues relative to multitenant building telecommunications access, performed a survey of the various stakeholders, and analyzed the underlying relationships and trends. This resultant study details the relevant issues, interests and positions of the stakeholders, anticipates the prospects for regional and national progress, and lays out recommendations for Arizona legislators and regulators, telecommunications service providers, building owners, and tenants. ATIC herein puts forth our recommendations to continue evolving public policies of open and nondiscriminatory access that provide for a more dynamic telecommunications market and significantly more consumer choice. However, it remains quite challenging and at times problematic to adequately balance the rights and revenue expectations of building managers and owners, the status and current arrangements of incumbent service providers, the opportunities and expectations of new competitive telecommunications entrants, as well as the needs and rights of tenants.
The Arizona Telecommunication and Information (ATIC) engaged International Research Center to write and produce this study under the direction of ATIC's Multitenant Building Access Committee. Together they have identified, researched, and considered the critical issues and concerns, mapped out the universe of stakeholders and concerned parties, ascertained key existing documents and resources, and gathered the working committee and stakeholders' input into the project design, methodology, and expected outcomes. It is hoped that this study will serve a broad public policy audience both within government, especially at the Arizona State Legislature and the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), and in the commercial world of the involved stakeholder groups. It is further hoped that this report will serve as a resource guide for all the stakeholders as it details the existing literature, past government policy, stakeholder initiatives, relevant trade and consumer organizations, and an array of research sources to provide more information and monitor ongoing developments.
The three primary Stakeholder Groups in the multitenant building arena that have the strongest vested interests in competitive broadband and advanced telecommunications services are the Telecommunications Service Providers (TSPs), the Building Owners and Managers, and the Building Tenants, be they Business Tenants or Residential Tenants. These stakeholder groups need to be further segmented due to their differing starting points, concerns, and positions. The Telecommunication Service Providers group includes not only the Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) for different regions of the state who traditionally have legacy access to multitenant building at little or no cost, but also the new market entrants, be they wireline and wireless Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs), who must negotiate for access as a secondary tier, late-to-the-party entrant. Among CLECs, wireless providers have quite different building access requirements, mounting their antennas on walls and rooftops, and may receive different regulatory treatment from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) among others. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Telecommunications Service Resellers will have somewhat different interests and needs as well. Building owners may have single properties and be local or have a variety of properties, possibly hundreds, nationally. They may serve residential apartments, Multiple Dwelling Units (MDUs), or provide rented office space and facilities to business or government enterprises.
This study seeks to characterize these various stakeholder groups and their varying points of view. Additionally, it deals with some issues such the undecided definition of the Point-of-Demarcation (POD) and the ownership of inside wiring that lead to uncertainty and delay in the marketplace while technology innovation continues to outpace the speed of regulatory change. Momentum is clearly on the side of open access across this and a number of other related telecommunications policy fronts. ATIC offers its recommendations as a regional economic development foundation concerned with Arizona's telecommunications infrastructure, the availability of advanced service to all its citizens, the technological underpinning of the New Economy, and their contribution to regional economic growth. ATIC believes that the public interest can best be served by the reduction of competitive barriers and the creation of an equitable and open marketplace. It is our hope that this report will serve as a resource to help frame the pertinent issues, identify the various viewpoints, point out market and societal trends, and make accessible an abundance of relevant resources. ATIC's recommended policy actions for the various stakeholder groups follow and it is hoped that they will help influence the opening of multitenant markets here in Arizona and through our example, throughout the nation.
| How rapidly we reach a kind of dynamic, open environment depends, to a significant degree, on government policy. While the evolution of the underlying technologies that makes these innovative applications possible will continue regardless of government actions, public policy will play a role in determining the rate at which competition between media is introduced. The government has often acted in the past to slow or limit competition in order to maintain the distinctive roles of different media. In light of the inevitable digital convergence of previously separate media, the most appropriate role for the government is to "get out of the way" of the introduction of new technologies and support the growth of competition, while maintaining its traditional responsibility for protecting the public interest. And essential to advancing the public interest is to favor allowing the market to produce innovative services at the lowest cost. | |
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-- From The New Global Telecommunications Industry & Consumers: Projecting the Telecommunications Industry in 2009 by Richard Adler, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) |
| Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study | |||
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