Commercial property owners presently are only able to provide existing 4G wireless networks to their tenants, customers or general invitees. However, in the very near term, these property owners will have access to new 5G networks that will allow for faster connections, support more devices, and will allow you to do more than you ever could before with your phone or other wireless device.
5G will be up to 100 times faster than current wireless connections available to commercial property owners and even faster than anything these same owners can provide their tenants and/or customers via existing fiber-optic cable presently available at their properties.
Commercial property owners will be able to provide more than additional speed in that they will have services available that provide low latency. What is latency? The best way to define it is the response time between when you click to download data and when the data becomes available. Presently, with 4G networks, there can be a certain lag time for data to download, but with 5G it will be almost instant and, with commercial tenants, time can be equated to money.
In a nutshell, 5G will allow you to do more and do it faster without interruption.
Most existing infrastructure for wireless networks is out in the open, located on either a cell tower, rooftop or even light poles or stop lights. However, wireless consumers consume almost 80% of data inside buildings and therein lies the problem.
As more wireless data travels through wireless networks, those signals/data cannot easily penetrate the glass windows, concrete, and steel that makes up most commercial properties. The problem only intensifies with the upcoming shift to 5G, which is impacted at an even greater level by the above-referenced barriers.
So, what will need to happen so the customers of AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint can have access to 5G that they are paying extra for each month? The answer could be the need for widespread installation of 5G infrastructure on rooftops and/or setting up in-building systems capable of supporting 5G networks.
Commercial property owners have been, and will continue to be, approached by wireless companies looking to install equipment necessary to develop 5G networks that are going to be their cash cows well into the twenty-first century. The question that commercial property owners must answer is ‘will they be a resource for the wireless carriers in their pursuit of greater profitability, or will they be able to recognize and then take advantage of the new 5G rollout in a way that not only provides enhanced services to their tenants and/or customers, but also maximizes additional revenue from the use of their properties?’
No matter what the situation, a cell site agreement is a long-term commitment, so understanding the bigger picture before you sign any agreement is extremely important, not only for the purposes of optimizing the revenue generated but also making sure they properly protect their primary asset – that being their commercial property.