It’s hard to believe building access issue still is in play at FC...

Fleischman & Walsh, Lederer said BOMA members actually liked CLECs because they offer tenants choice, thus enhancing building amenities. “We want these folks [CLECs] to succeed” because they increase property values, he said. What BOMA doesn’t want is intrusion by govt., he said, because “it’s unauthorized” intrusion onto public property. “We aren’t utilities.” Many office buildings do allow competitive access but “there are practical space limits in our risers,” Lederer said. ALTS Pres. John Windhausen, also on program, complimented Lederer for putting “a really good face on bad arguments.” Windhausen said CLECs faced “endless negotiations,” high fees or requests for part of revenue when they went to property owners seeking entry. “The biggest problem is delay,” he said. Windhausen also rebutted BOMA’s legal arguments: (1) It’s not unconstitutional to demand access to multitenant buildings because owners already have let ILECs in. (2) “Takings” argument doesn’t work because CLECs are willing to pay for access, he said. (3) FCC has authority to regulate inside wire because it used to do so. It may have deregulated inside wiring in 1980s but “it certainly can regulate it now without a change in the law.” Windhausen said FCC last year prohibited exclusive contracts for telecom services in multitenant buildings but needed to go further. Lederer questioned Windhausen’s concern about tenants’ being deprived of choice: “The facts don’t prove it out. When asked in a survey if they are served by the provider of their choice, 99% of tenants said yes.” Noting that car phones operate in cars, Lederer asked whether FCC should regulate cars the way it wants to regulate buildings: “How far does this go?” Marketplace will work as long as there’s not “invidious government intrusion,” Lederer said. Laurence Bensignor of developer Van Metre Companies, described planned community in Va. where one telecom provider was selected to develop sophisticated infrastructure that offers phone, video home security, Internet services. Residents can select another provider but in essence will be paying twice because they still must pay for mandated developer-selected provider, he said. Bensignor said that arrangement was best way to build infrastructure. Lederer said that arrangement wouldn’t work in office buildings.