Upgrade Your Apartment Community with High Speed Fiber Optic Internet

Feb 16, 2022 | Home Technology

Property managers looking to attract new renters and add value to their communities should consider adding high-speed fiber optic internet to the community's offerings. Just as adding fiber optic internet to a single-family home can improve its value, so can adding this offering to a rental community.

Make the community more attractive

Potential renters ask many great questions beyond how many bedrooms and bathrooms are in the apartment before choosing a place to live. Their questions often include features of the surrounding area (school district, nearby parks, recreation and entertainment options, closest coffee shop, etc.), how old the unit is, when it was last updated, and the types of utilities available.

Fiber optic internet can make a community more appealing to potential residents.

One question that pops up more and more with the increase in work-from-home and residents spending more time streaming shows and movies is: how good is the internet service?

Can it keep up with the demands of streaming, gaming, video conferences, and multiple devices all online at once? Chances are, the existing copper-based internet in the community bogs down when everyone hops online, mainly because it's a shared connection, splitting the bandwidth among residents.

Conversely, fiber optic internet provides a dedicated connection to each home, so all the bandwidth goes to each residential unit individually and is unaffected by the neighbors' online usage.

It matters to potential and existing residents

Internet connectivity is not just important, it is critical to renters. According to the FTTH (Fiber to the Home) Council Americas, high-speed internet is the number one most important amenity for apartment residents moving into a new unit or deciding whether to renew their lease. In addition, residents of luxury apartments, in general, tend to rate high-speed internet as "very important" on a list of top features.

Broadband Communities Magazine found the same sentiment among apartment residents they polled, with 86% of respondents ranking reliable high-speed internet as their single most sought-after amenity and feature of an apartment community.

Chart importance of amenities for mdu renters
Residents polled by Broadband Communities Magazine ranked their most-desired amenities.

No extra cost to residents

Thanks to wider spread adoption driving down technology prices, high-speed fiber optic internet costs about the same – or in some cases less – than older, slower copper internet. In fact, on a megabits-per-second (Mbps) basis, fiber optic internet costs considerably less than copper because consumers are getting more megabits per dollar spent.

Fiber optic internet is just as affordable as cable or DSL and provides a much lower Mbps cost.

For example, if Customer A spends $65 per month to get 100 Mbps from a copper internet connection and Customer B spends the same $65 per month but gets 300 Mbps from a fiber optic connection, Customer B is paying less per megabit for an overall better value.

Communities that offer fiber-optic internet usually save their residents money compared to other slower internet options. According to Broadbandsearch.net, the average price for fiber optic internet service is $0.22 per megabit per second (Mbps), compared to $0.83 for cable and $1.53 for DSL.

Increase profits for property management

Offering fiber optic internet can potentially drive an increase in rental income, as the property's perceived value can rise with improved technology. According to the study, property managers who offered high-speed fiber optic internet as a utility option saw an average of 8% increase in monthly rent after adding the service. Because many communities do not include the internet as part of the monthly rent and therefore do not incur the added cost, the property management company can benefit from the 8% profit uptick.

Happier residents mean less resident turnover and lower vacancy rates.

Happier residents

The benefits are more than just monetary. The study also revealed that renters with high-speed internet in their homes felt better about their decision about rental communities and were more likely to recommend the community to others. This feel-good word-of-mouth advertising is the best way to attract new residents.

Happier residents are more likely to renew their leases, leading to higher revenues and lower vacancy rates for the community.


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