Fiber Network Equipment Commercial Norms

Wed Sep 22 19:24:26 UTC 2021

Forgive the top post...

	This issue /can/ be complicated, but I have some direct
experience with a lot of variations on this.

	It sounds like this particular situation might involve
equipment that is part of a Metro ring.  This is pretty nice because it
might mean there is redundancy to the building and that a high quality
service is available to the tennants.  Years ago we started doing
installations like this, and their uniqueness in the market made them a
bit difficult to explain.  Also, it is possible to currently have no
tennants in your building using the service, but the equipment there
might still be integral to the overall Metro ring.  This is usually not
a problem since excellent Internet service is a great amenity to a
commercial rental property and these locations usually provide
facilities and power for other comm equipment.  We also often have
emergency off-hours access.
	The lack of an agreement might be a sticking point.  We worked
with a couple of the largest commercial property management companies
in our area to craft an entrance agreement that included a provision
for the equipment being on-site even if it was not currently providing
service to an existing tennant.  The equipment can still be removed,
but we require a few months notice to do it properly in order to avoid
service degradations.  This has /so far/ not been an issue as the amenity
is valued.

	In the case of other shared equipment such as for MDUs or,
voice, etc...  (long list of possibilities) lack of a current tennant
using them usually means their uptime is less important, and agreements
for placement are rare in my experience (some facilities are required
for occupancy).

	Shared outdoor ONTs for duplex or quadplex townhomes is an
interesting case as you need to think about whose power is lighting the
ONT.  Providing fiber drops for every possible tennant could change the
ROI enough that we avoid it (YMMV).  The solution (for us) is often to
use dual-feed UPS setups.  What you are trying to avoid is one tennant
cutting service for others, or one tennant paying to power someone
else's service when they don't use it.  In some cases access to
facility power (for lighting and/or irrigation) that is independent of
any tennant power can be negotiated.
	The power issue also comes up a occasionally in multi-tennant
buildings, especially if they weren't designed to be multi-tennant when
built.

	We also have some situations where shared equipment is passive,
which is nice, but not always feasible with fiber.

--TimH

On Wed, 22 Sep 2021 11:23:25 -0500
<jray06 at gmail.com> wrote:

> A few of the buildings that my firm represents have the local telco's fiber
> distribution and/or repeater equipment located on the premises. My
> understanding is that when one of these links go down, (we've occasionally
> had to interrupt circuit power to do maintenance in a building for one
> reason or another), a local engineering tech always comes running to restore
> the link. The tech has led our maintenance staff to believe that these
> repeaters are an integral part of the local ring, which fits my
> understanding.
> 
>  
> 
> When a network operator has equipment located at a third party premises,
> what is the norm for commercial contractual terms regarding the siting of
> that equipment? Any network equipment on site pre-dates my client's
> ownership of the buildings, and they have no record of any agreements or
> easements governing who is responsible for power, maintenance, liability,
> etc. 
> 
>  
> 
> My client has no philosophical objection to having the equipment on site,
> but he's asked why he has had to pay to power and cool this equipment for
> almost 20 years when it serves him no benefit (he is not utilizing that
> company's services). I figure some of you may be able to give me an insight
> as to what is normal and reasonable. Feel free to contact me directly if
> this message is not suitable for this distribution list. 
> 
>  
> 
> Appreciate the insight,
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Jeff Ray
> 
> O:  (956) 542-3642
> 
> C:  (956) 592-2019
> 
> JRay06 at gmail.com