Page 20 - New York Cooperator March 2019

TRENDS
A
s more and more of our daily lives a reduced rate. Here at netBlazr, if you 50 channels live online and are all really
become more intertwined with on-
line entertainment and services, duce our rate by 45-50 percent. So if you it in, you have a streaming app and you’re
internet access has become a home utility have 100 units, instead of paying $6,000, good to go. You have individual profiles
along with electricity and running water. you’d probably pay around $3,500. And set up for everyone in your household,
Boards can take for granted that every resi-
dent in their building or community asso-
ciation wants reliable, fast internet service, The idea for us is that if you’re unhappy solely with internet service without that
and while many communities leave the with our service, you should be able to older cable setup.”
selection of service providers to individ-
ual owners, others – especially those with
shared community spaces in which people
expect wireless access – have to decide as a ket, and I’m not even sure whether New
board which available provider is right for York is. But Chicago is definitely a bulk
their association.
The Cooperator
spoke with representa-
tives of several major telecom providers ban areas where you do have competition er, but the primary cost is for the whole
to discuss what’s currently available for – which is key in all of this – because you building. Sometimes not everyone will
associations – as well as with a property can find really good rates. It can be frus-
management professional to talk about trating if you’re an association outside of necessarily stop the entire process. Some
his client communities’ dealings with a city where you have limited options. people just don’t like change. I’ve been to
these increasingly essential service pro-
viders.
Perry Wasserbauer, Market Develop-
ment Manager at netBlazr, a Boston-
based broadband provider
The Cooperator: What can you tell us
about bulk package deals for community
associations and multifamily properties?
PW: “A bulk deal takes the idea that we
all need internet, whether that includes on the demographics. Even older demos not exist anymore, and that package is not
cable or (more rarely) phone... but you have shifted somewhat toward Netflix even currently available. So you can save
take the basic premise that everyone in and Hulu [rather than traditional cable a lot for everyone in the building with a
the community wants and needs internet, TV]. There’s a lot of competition in the more streamlined bulk package catering
and that if they band together and go all-
in with a specific provider, they can get Tube TV, Google... some of these offer 40-
want to do a bulk deal, we’d typically re-
we’re different from some of the major with all of your favorites and your record-
telecoms, as we don’t believe in contracts. ed shows, etc. There’s a lot that you can do
leave.”
Are bulk packages catching on?
“Boston isn’t necessarily a bulk mar-
market; they’re all about it there. I think the building. And individual units have
you’re going to see this a lot more in ur-
You might be able to find providers in the plenty of condo board meetings and seen
suburbs who will do a multifamily bulk some horror scenarios, but I’ve also seen
build-out or something of that nature, great, highly-functional associations. It’s
and those are typically more local inde-
pendent companies – but it’s touch and personalities. Most people—especially
go.”
What’s the market like for cable service
these days?
“It’s less of a utility, but it depends which they started that service likely does
subscription service market. Hulu or You-
cool. With an AppleTV or Roku, you plug
What happens when the majority of
an association desires a bulk package, but
there are adamant holdouts who insist on
sticking with cable?
“The bulk deals are for the entirety of
the option to go through another provid-
want to be involved, but that shouldn’t
all about different people and different
in a condo building where they have one
of the major providers and a triple-play
phone/internet/cable package—the rate at
to their current interests and usage.”
Rafael Visbal, Regional Vice Presi-
dent of Commercial Development
at Comcast’s Hollywood, Florida
offices
The Cooperator: What does
[Comcast subsidiary] Xfinity of-
fer community associations that’s
unique when compared to products
and services for single-family homes
or multifamily rentals?
RV: “Let me start with the big
picture. Condos, gated communi-
ties, what have you.... it’s a large part
of our footprint across the country.
We know that multifamily is a very
competitive area today, and created
Xfinity Communities a few years
ago as a specific team to address
this. Over the last few years, we’ve
transformed our service for HOAs,
improving customer service, in-
vesting in better network and en-
tertainment solutions... and we launched
our X1 entertainment platform, which al-
lows you take your content anywhere and
enjoy it anytime from any device.”
So I could finish the movie I started last
night in my apartment on the subway the
next morning via my phone?
“Exactly.”
What does your company offer in terms
of bulk packaging?
“It’s one of the segments we service,
wherein an association has selected a sin-
gle provider and has decided to enter into
a multi-year ‘wholesale’ agreement, where
they want to provide video, or video/in-
ternet, or a specific array of equipment,
etc., to the property for the term of that
agreement. It’s a segment we serve very
well, and we have specific geographi-
cal areas within our footprint in Florida
where it’s embraced more than others. In
West Palm Beach and Southwest Florida
in general, bulk is a very large component
of our business.
“If the HOA documents permit it, and
there’s political will to do something as a
community, we can definitely bring to-
gether what is generally a very custom-
ized solution. We figure that out property
to property. And this creates a very stable
predictable model of pricing and service
throughout the term of the agreement for
that property, which is something a little
Telecom for Your Community
Evaluating Available Options
BY MIKE ODENTHAL
20 THE COOPERATOR
— MARCH 2019
COOPERATOR.COM
continued on page 24