Viewpoints

Ubiquity Smart Buildings has cracked the economic code for MDU fiber overbuilds.

Contributed by: Ubiquity Smart Buildings

Who is Ubiquity Smart Buildings?

Ubiquity is a full-service fiber provider with edge data center assets and an internet service provider in FiberFirst, boasting a portfolio of 300,000 passings and over 30,000 customers. The Smart Buildings division specializes in the deployment of optimal fiber-to-the-unit for private access MDU and SFU properties, building the last-mile infrastructure that enhances connectivity for residents.

National program

Ubiquity Smart Buildings has launched a fully operational national program to reach more MDU brownfield communities and owners, partnering with tier-1 and tier-2 service providers who possess their own fiber backhaul and serve MDU customers in those regions.

Providers looking to monetize their invested assets gain access to new customers in their serving areas by utilizing Ubiquity’s last-mile infrastructure on properties the providers previously couldn’t make economic, and existing dark fiber is no longer wasted.

Over the past year, Ubiquity Smart Buildings has kicked off work with Quantum Fiber, a Lumen Technologies brand, to overbuild fiber internet for aging apartments across Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, and Montana.

Benefit to property owners

Property owners that have previously been turned down can now qualify for a fiber overbuild, increasing their property values and improving resident satisfaction. Fiber-to-the-unit futureproofs a property and insulates the MDU owner, enabling them to offer the top amenities to residents.

Ubiquity Smart Buildings designs and constructs the fiber network at no cost to ownership.

As a multiple tenant infrastructure builder, Ubiquity Smart Buildings installs a dual-port fiber jack in each unit, enabling service providers to offer multi-gig capable services at the property – with a retail choice, residents can receive the highest speeds and bandwidth at the lowest possible cost.

How does it work?

While each service provider has its own processes, Ubiquity Smart Buildings has set up a flexible approach that can adapt to each one’s requirements. This model solves three major pain points:

1. Contracting
   Ubiquity obtains an access agreement with the property owner to design, build, and maintain the infrastructure, and the service provider obtains a marketing agreement with the property to provide services and market them to residents. Ubiquity business development managers work closely with the service provider’s account executives and managers to educate property owners on each
   party’s involvement in contracting, construction, and service.
2. Build economics
   Ubiquity engineering keeps costs low while minimizing property disruption and coordinating with property aesthetics. Accurate site surveys, designs, and build estimates are critical to driving overall costs down. The infrastructure is designed to be minimally intrusive to install. Ubiquity partners with private general contractors in each region to keep Ubiquity’s average per-unit cost within its economic model.
3. Value return
   In addition to an overbuild that is 100% capital-free, the property owner continues to receive a revenue share payment from the service provider. The service provider gains a new customer base with immediate penetration, and pays Ubiquity a fee for the lease of the network.

Build process

The Ubiquity Smart Buildings engineering team coordinates with the service provider’s engineering team for a seamless build and activation, while continuing close communication on maintenance and repairs so that the service provider maintains a positive reputation with its customers.

In order to cause minimal disruption to the property, the Smart Buildings construction managers work closely with property management to coordinate access to every unit. Additionally, Smart Buildings includes the installation of the service provider’s CPE in each unit in its scope of work so that residents do not experience multiple disruptions for in-unit work. This approach also enables more subscriptions to the provider’s services as residents can sign up in minutes and have instant access to internet service upon moving in.

Ubiquity completes brownfield overbuilds, from contracting to residents receiving service, in half the traditional industry time.

Creating opportunities through quality relationships

Ubiquity’s relationships with third party consulting groups, MDU legal teams, and the partnering service providers enable the Smart Buildings team to offer this unique solution to brownfield properties that were previously not eligible for a fiber upgrade.

Ubiquity Smart Buildings is currently overbuilding MDUs in 10 states, with plans to expand into more through its work with tier-1 and tier-2 service providers.

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