NOW Corporation (PSE Ticker: NOW), a listed technology firm in the Philippine Stock Exchange, announced that it is now accepting applications from building owners who are in need of technical plans for in-building fiber broadband upgrade, with 100% financing available.

The monthly amortization payments for the upgrade could come from the building owners’ share in the monthly broadband revenues.

“All these mean multiple wins for all stakeholders,” Mel Velarde, NOW Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer, claims.

Commercial and residential buildings are deemed heavy users of broadband connectivity than single-detached family homes. In fact, fast and reliable broadband Internet is now rated as the single most important amenity for Multi Dwelling Units or MDUs.

In a recent study done by the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council based in the US, buildings that have access to fiber speeds raise rental values by up to 8 percent and purchase prices of condominiums by 2.8 percent. This means higher rental and sales value better than bottom lines for MDU owners. On average, this translates to about 11 percent net income for MDU owners and operators per unit (Source: Fiber to the Home Council Study, 2016).

“Imagine your tenants leaving your building because your broadband is lousy or runs superb only half of the time. I have a friend whose five kids would literally revolt if Internet connectivity is down even for just five minutes only. Tenants, mostly Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms, represent a US$25 Billion market, while parents with children comprise the other US$25 Billion, mostly Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) money. Lose them and the boom market just passes you by,” Velarde warns.

NOW Corporation’s fiber technology direct to the building that offers up to 1 Gigabit per tenant, spiced up with 100% financing program and matched with revenue sharing with building owners, provides a permanent solution to this nagging problem of broadband Internet connectivity.

“We have net citizens (netizens) in critical buildings and subdivisions who have already taken the broadband Internet connectivity concern with their bare hands: they are now spending their own money to bring NOW Fiber Broadband to themselves and their neighbors,” NOW Marketing head Kristian Pura adds.

The primary target of NOW Corporation’s broadband Internet offering is the lucrative enterprise sector that usually pays more to secure guaranteed broadband speed. With its broadband service, NOW Corporation can do just that for clients who seek anywhere from 10Mbps up to 700Mbps at guaranteed speeds, and, if need be, up to 1Gbps per tenant.

The challenge, of course, is in terms of rolling out the network, which can cost massive amounts of money and plenty of headaches especially when it comes to local government unit requirements. The solution presented by NOW Corporation, according to Pura, is to get partners to jointly own the infrastructure, specifically their building’s own backbone. In return, building partners profit through a revenue sharing scheme.

Pura said this is now possible with their “Fiber in the Air” broadband technology which is capable of providing 700Mbps in as far as 7-10kms. With the program’s scheme, NOW Corporation will get building partners who will lease the technology from them and provide the service to the tenants. In exchange, NOW Corporation shares 5 percent to 50 percent of revenues from incremental bandwidth with them.

Under the revenue-sharing scheme, the starting rate will be Php250,000 but this will increase depending on the size of the building or infrastructure. “Since this service operates on ‘line of sight,’ the taller the building is, the better it will be.”

Pura said the company has already tapped 12 building partners in Metro Manila and is looking at more growth areas, particularly in Southern Luzon, Cebu and Davao by next year.

But Pura hinted that those living in horizontal houses such as those in villages might have something to look forward to. He said NOW Corporation is talking to some homeowners’ associations who may still be wary about telco towers near their lush and manicured village gardens, but are apparently open to the idea of NOW Corporation’s technology right now.

NOW Corporation’s “Fiber in the Air” service uses wireless technology to cut the costs of building fast broadband service in major areas, a typically expensive and complex task that drains billions of pesos of other giant telecom companies.

True to its testament of providing reliable and ultra-fast broadband connection via its fiber in the air, more and more companies have signed up to be part of the NOW network. Part of its roster of clients include Capitol Medical Center, National Children’s Hospital, Bellagio Residences (a dormitory building), Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros, Sta. Isabel College, and Chinese General Hospital and Colleges, to name a few.

For building owners who want to apply as NOW Corporation’s building partners, visit NOW Corporation’s website: www.nownetwork.ph/building-partner.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/building-upgrade-fiber-broadband-nows-100-financing-pura?published=t