BROADBAND COMMUNITIES is the leading source of information on digital and broadband technologies for buildings and communities. Our editorial aims to accelerate the deployment of Fiber-To-The-Home and Fiber-To-The-Premises.
Issue link: https://bbcmag.epubxp.com/i/416055
24 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | OCTOBER 2014 MDU REPORT MDU Broadband Visionaries BroadBand Communities recognizes 18 forward-thinking individuals who have helped lead the way toward fber-borne ultra-broadband in multiple-dwelling-unit buildings and commercial space. By Steven S. Ross / Broadband Communities H ere are 18 broadband visionaries with skin in the game. As employees, executives or partners at real estate developers and investment companies, they create and advocate for business plans that push the limits for fexible, reliable and bountiful broadband. Tis is the frst time in four years that BroadBand Communities has published a list of MDU broadband leaders. In the interim, the industry has changed, as have our rules for inclusion. Te most important rule remains, however: Tis list honors individuals, not organizations. Because BroadBand C ommunities now honors MDU broadband suppliers and consultants in the Top 100 MDU Technology Providers list, the visionaries list includes only those who work for organizations that build, fund or manage MDUs. Nominations came from many quarters, including BroadBand Communities staf and a panel of consultants, legal experts and technologists. We were struck by how many winning nominees came from companies involved with student housing – clearly, students are a prime market for technology amenities – and by how many work for real estate investment trusts. Because investors compare REITs based on the level and consistency of their yields, REITs' decisions to invest in fber-borne ultra-broadband are an endorsement of that technology as a value- adding component of any property. MARK TORO AND SHAWN MCINTYRE Founded in 1954, North American Properties is a privately held, multiregional real estate operating company that has acquired, developed and managed more than $4 billion of retail, multifamily, mixed-use and ofce properties across the United States. Shawn R. McIntyre and Mark Toro are both NAP partners. "Especially in the realm of information technology and service, if you are providing the normal commercially available status quo, your product is obsolete in its frst years of service," says McIntyre. One recent project showed the power of FTTH in student housing. Working with the city of Tallahassee and its Community Redevelopment Agency, NAP redeveloped three brownfeld, blighted sites into premier, mixed- use projects. "In this case, with a heavy emphasis on student housing and the demands of young men and women whose generation has grown up with exponentially increasing demands for speed and data," says McIntyre, "we knew we had to fnd, install and economically ofer 1 gig Internet service in a fber and wireless environment. We also knew that HDTV channels would be in high demand in our student apartments, in clubhouses and with our retail customers." Te project, Stadium Centre, includes three sites with a total of 386 units containing 710 beds, as well as 40,000 square feet of retail and two public parking garages. "We explored the