For years, major telecommunications companies such as Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and more have been the primary providers of internet connectivity at Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs). For many property owners, it made sense to partner with these large and well-known companies.
These companies had a great sales pitch to property owners. They would build out and own the network infrastructure, and all the property owner would have to worry about is paying for the service that was piped through it.
Some of these companies would offer bulk internet and video deals, which gave property owners some control over who they partnered with and how certain things were done on the property. Others simply had that responsibility passed onto individual tenants, who then had to contact the telecom companies directly to set up their service.
All the while, these companies were raking in the profits — and they’re still doing it today.
Did your property get rewarded for lining their executives’ pockets? Did you get to ride on the private jet that you helped to fund? Or were you left in the dark when your network experienced issues, needed an upgrade or you tried to leave for another company?
Today, MDU property owners have another option. Elauwit, a boutique national telecom company, provides you with the outstanding connectivity you and your tenants need and allows you to share a slice of the revenue pie.
It’s called managed WiFi. Let’s learn more.
‘Big Telecom’ Only Cares About Profit
Owning your network infrastructure is a big deal. It’s an asset that can be built upon, changed and/or upgraded over time. It’s an essential component of your property’s operations, but it’s only in your control if you actually own it.
If you don’t own the network infrastructure, then you’re locked in with the company that built it for you. This is what the big telecom companies did, and it’s led to huge profits.
To wit, here’s how three of the biggest telecom companies fared in 2022, while many property owners were still facing pandemic- and inflation-related challenges …
- Verizon: $77.702 billion gross profit
- Comcast: $44.951 billion gross profit
- AT&T: $801 million operating income in its Business Wireline division
There’s nothing wrong with these companies being profitable, mind you. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be able to offer their services. The issue for property owners, though, is that these big telecom companies are raking in billions of dollars in profit at the expense of property owners.
These companies “sell” to property owners that it’s a good thing that they don’t own their infrastructure, but that’s really just a mirage. The cost of build-out for these companies hardly affects their bottom line at all, as can be seen in their massive profits.
If anything, building these network backbones serves as a major investment for these telecom companies, as it returns them revenue year after year.
After building out the networks, they lock property owners in to long 15-year contracts, during which they don’t do a great job of improving the network or providing you with better services. And why should they? They’re raking in the profits regardless of the quality of service they’re delivering to you.
What’s more, the fact that you don’t own your network prevents you from leveraging the infrastructure from the growing list of proptech solutions that require a connectivity backbone to function properly.
In other words, not only are these big telecom companies taking advantage of you to make huge profits, they’re also preventing you from running an efficient business.
Elauwit’s Managed WiFi is the Modern Alternative Luckily, there is an alternative to the above. By partnering with Elauwit, you get to share in the profits of your managed WiFi network. Here’s how it works …
We build out or upgrade the network infrastructure for you and charge you one monthly bulk fee. You then build the service pricing into the monthly rent for your tenants, adding some padding so you can make a profit, too.
Your residents get the exceptional connectivity they need at prices that are lower than what the “big telecom” companies offer anyway. The network is always on, allowing tenants to move freely throughout your property without losing connection. And turnover is easy, with new tenants connected and old tenants disconnected in a flash.
Elauwit’s contracts are much shorter than that of big telecoms’ — seven years in most cases — after which your share of the profits from your managed WiFi network can increase even more. We also offer financing to cover the cost of the network, which allows you to hang onto cash during these challenging economic times while still making smart investments.
Most importantly, this arrangement allows you to own your network infrastructure, providing you both short- and long-term benefits and plenty of flexibility and control over how you run your business.
Want to learn more? Contact us today.