VSG: Service provider fiber available in 31.8% of U.S. buildings

While fiber availability into buildings is far from ubiquitous, new research from Vertical Systems Group shows that fiber is now available in 31.8 percent of U.S. commercial buildings, up from 27.7 percent in 2010.

Vertical Systems Group business fiber

These fiber-connected buildings with 20 or more employees can access services that can scale up to multiple Gbps rates.

"Direct fiber is the preferred access technology deployed for business services like Ethernet and IP VPNs, and for connectivity to the Internet and cloud-based applications," said Rosemary Cochran, principal at Vertical Systems Group. "With the majority of larger U.S. buildings already fiber-connected to one or more networks, service providers widened their fiber footprints in 2011 to cover more small and medium locations through new construction, strategic partnerships or acquisitions."

Given the competitive nature of the commercial real estate market, new and existing buildings that install fiber and provide access to higher bandwidth telecom services from ILECs, CLECs or a cable MSO like Ethernet can be a selling point to attract new tenants.

Comcast Business, for example, which is expanding the availability of its fiber-based Ethernet offerings, is seeing this trend first hand.

In its 2011 State of Communications Services in Commercial Real Estate Survey, 90 percent of the 500 US. property managers and building owners it polled said that the presence of telecom services ranked as top of the list following price, parking and location.

For more:
- see the release

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