JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014
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www.broadbandcommunities.com
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BROADBAND COMMUNITIES
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elements of the community. Likewise,
the business and retail tenants need the
fexibility to manage communications
services according to their respective
needs. At the same time, Avalon retains
a unique identity and remains a unifed
brand. Tat required drafting an access
and service agreement that would
acknowledge the functional autonomy
of each separate community while
retaining, for the developer, enough
control over the service provider's on-site
activities to protect the Avalon brand.
Finally, contractual future-proofng
involved contingency planning around
the possibilities that the primary service
provider could fail or that one or more
of the Avalon communities might in
the future decide that competition
among service providers is preferable
to being locked into a long-term
commitment to a single provider. Tus,
the contracts were designed to facilitate
the competitive entry of additional
service providers following expiration of
the initial term by using access licenses
rather than long-term easements and
by sharing use of crucial infrastructure
facilities such as conduit.
CONCLUSION
As of December 15, 2013, phase 1 of
Avalon's 500,000 square feet of retail
is 90 percent leased, and the grand
opening is scheduled for October
30, 2014. Every resident will have
immediate access to a gigabit Internet
connection, and each ofce and retail
tenant will have access to a connection
of 10 Gbps or more, as needed, all at a
cost dramatically less than market rate.
Avalon provides a clear example of
how ambitious, forward-looking real
estate developers with a sense of civic
responsibility can partner with cutting-
edge service providers to create a gigabit
community that realizes the great
potential inherent in FTTP technology.
Although only time will tell, there is
every indication that even in today's
rapidly evolving tech environment,
Avalon will remain on the cutting edge
of broadband communities for the
foreseeable future.
v
Carl E. Kandutsch owns and operates the
Kandutsch Law Ofce in Plano, Texas,
which represents multitenant real estate
developers as well as broadband service
providers. For further information, please
visit www.kandutsch.com, email carl@
kandutsch.com or telephone 214-427-
5354. Stephen Mayo is president of
Inteleconnect, which designs integrated
turnkey telecommunications solutions
for campuses, mixed-use developments,
communities, service providers and
enterprises. Contact him at smayo@
inteleconnect.com or 734-944-6694.
To learn more about Avalon, visit
www.experienceavalon.com.
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