There is nothing more exciting as a landlord than when your building development reaches Practical Completion (PC) and you’re able to hand over the keys to your incoming tenants. One of the final pieces of the puzzle that is often left until the last minute is the building connectivity – cellular and fibre.
As an incoming tenant / user, there is nothing more alarming when moving into you’re new A-Grade tenancy or accessing a new public environment only to find out there is no mobile phone coverage and / or you don’t have your fibre connection in place to operate your business
A Better Approach
One of the main reasons this gets overlooked is that it falls through the cracks in the handover from the development team to the operations team. However, with some proactive engagement 12 months before the project PC date these issues can be overcome.
Once tenants have been identified, landlords should seek to engage them to understand their specific requirements regarding mobile carriers, fibre service provider and any specific diversity requirements. Alternatively, particularly in the fixed line space while there are a growing number of market participants, identifying 3 or 4 service providers to be present from day one may support a high percentage of the incoming tenants.
NBN Connectivity
Depending on the building, it may have NBN in various forms. More commonly in new builds, this is likely to take the form of Fibre to the Premise (FTTP). The endpoints for the FTTP units will get mapped to a Lot ID, which corresponds to particular units/suites/tenancies and the like. Things can get messy quickly when floors and the like are subdivided without keeping NBN abreast of changes.
Fibre Connectivity
Subject to the location of the development, access to the Building Entry Point (BEP) at the street level can be a challenge. Establishing the location of any telecommunication pits adjacent or nearby to the site in the early stages of the development may assist in planning access for the fibre connections for the incoming tenants as well as inform a strategy for the landlord in the event there are requirements for diversity requiring multiple BEPs.
With so many providers available in the market, understanding the needs of any pre-committed tenants is hugely beneficial in limiting rework, cost and sidewalk damage. Most important however is speeding up the delivery of service as often these services can take months to arrange, which is never great when the tenants are moving in on Monday next week.
With early planning, the landlord will be in a position to engage carriers to provide connections from existing pits or, alternatively, if new pits are required, plan the works prior to any landscaping or pavement works being completed. The worst-case scenario occurs when a carrier decides they need to dig up newly deployed pavements and/or landscaping recently completed as part of project PC to run new cables to the BEPs.
In-Building Cellular Coverage
All major commercial developments – office, retail, hospitals etc, will likely have a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) installed as part the cost of the development to ensure mobile coverage within the building. The landlord should budget to have either 1, 2, or all 3 carriers connected to the DAS subject to the profile of the building type and its likely user profile, noting that there is also a cost associated with the carrier connections.
Most public environments e.g. retail, airports, stadiums etc have all 3 carriers connected whilst some commercial office properties may have 1,2 or 3 subject to the tenancy profile. In an ideal situation all DAS’ would have 3 carriers connected ensuring continuous coverage and positive user experience throughout the site. MVNO such as Kogan, Woolworths etc ultimately rely on the 3 carrier networks
As part of the DAS design process one of the 3 carriers will be requested to approve the design and assume the role as “lead carrier”. The lead carrier is responsible for design approval, system acceptance post installation and maintenance post acceptance. The design should be approved prior to installation. The DAS contractor responsible for the design submission needs to inform the landlord once the design is approved and provide a copy of the formal communication from the carrier to the landlord.
It is when the design is approved by a mobile carrier that the landlord should engage the “proposed” lead carrier to confirm the conditions under which they will assume the responsibility as lead carrier, the technologies to be deployed (4G /5G) and the cost of their connection to the DAS. This is the first step to having mobile phone coverage on Day 1 when your building achieves PC.
Important points to note are that nothing will happen on the mobile carrier side relating to their role as lead carrier and/or the planning around the connection until the landlord signs the documentation and any initial payment requirement if any, is fulfilled. It typically takes up to 6-9 months for the carriers to schedule and complete the connection which will include equipment installation in an MDF room or dedicated DAS room and fibre backhaul via curb side pits. If the goal is to have all 3 carriers live on Day 1 then detailed technical engagement is required between the lead carrier and the 2 co-locating carriers and the landlord with the 2 co-locating carriers re commercials. This will likely require engagement at least 12 months prior to PC.
DAS Room Make Ready
With multiple parties occupying the MDF room or dedicated DAS room, it is good practice to have a room layout completed as part of the DAS design documentation pack submitted to the lead carrier for design approval. This will also facilitate easier planning for all parties involved.
To get things moving quickly you can go above and beyond the minimum requirements of the MCF to include element such as outlets and earth bars and tray work, so the operators just show up and plug in, otherwise it just burns time at the backend.
Advisory Services
Telco Access Services (TAS) provide a full suite of services for landlords operating commercial properties that regularly interact with Telecommunication Service Providers. TAS provide Commissioning Services to support the connection process at PC date.