SCENARIOS
Heather Burnett Gold
PRESIDENT & CEO, FTTH COUNCIL AMERICAS
RVA combined a survey of MDU residents in the U.S. and Canada and base financial data from the National Apartment Association. This indicated that fibre availability might add 11% to an MDU owner's or operators net income per average apartment unit. This is a significant finding, as some 30% of US residents live in multifamily housing. An earlier study found similar economic benefits for single-family units (SFUs) with FTTH broadband. (See article in NExsT magazine, issue 4, 2015)
"These findings add to the growing body of evidence that fibre is a win for communities, for consumers and for property owners," said FTTH Council President and CEO Heather Burnett Gold, "This study is another tool network providers can use in their discussions with MDU owners and operators as they seek to deploy fibre, meaning faster and more numerous deployments throughout North America."
“Perhaps because of the importance of broadband to folks likely to live in MDUs, high-quality broadband is now viewed as the single most important property amenity to MDU residents. Increased choice of broadband providers may also create an MDU valuation difference, though this is less statistically measurable.”
The survey solicited input from MDU residents in the U.S. and Canada. RVA asked respondents to estimate the discount they would give on an otherwise equal $300,000 condominium purchase or the $1,000 monthly rent on an apartment if those living units did not have access to fibre. The results showed owners would require an average discount of $8,628 (2.8%) and renters would require an $80 monthly discount (8%). An earlier study showed that homeowners would want an approximate 3.2% discount.
Survey data suggests that MDU residents (often single or without children) utilize broadband heavily. On average, MDU residents spend about 5.1 hours online per day compared to 4.8 hours per day for single-family residents. MDU residents under the age 35 report getting 61% of their video content from online streaming sources, compared to 46% for single-family residents of the same age.
The MDU and SFU reports are available from FTTH Council Americas
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