Representatives of building owners in the United States are fighting any attempt to give telecommunications service providers the right to take space in office buildings.
Last week the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International testified before the House Telecommunications Study Committee of Tennessee's House of Representatives in Nashville.
Bruce Lyman, advocacy team leader for BOMA International, spoke on behalf of BOMA International's 17,500 member property owners and managers. He urged lawmakers to accept that the market can efficiently govern building access without compromising building owners' property rights.
BOMA International feels that forced access – the taking of space by telecom service providers within office buildings for the installation of equipment and wiring for free or at low, government-established prices – prevents property owners and managers from maintaining control of the basic security and integrity of the building.
"The marketplace does not need government-mandated access; telecommunications competition is alive and thriving in office buildings. Hundreds of license agreements are being signed by office building owners and telecommunications service providers every day. These transactions are negotiated at arm's length and in a free market environment. Forced building access is unnecessary, unmanageable and unconstitutional," said Lyman in his testimony.
"In order for an office building to remain competitive in today's marketplace, it must offer tenants not only a wide array of telecommunications services, but also an array of choices in telecommunications service providers. As the commercial real estate business is fiercely competitive, we must provide our tenants with access to the latest telecommunications services or they will go elsewhere, and our buildings' operations will cease," Lyman explained.
He cited BOMA's Critical Connections study in support of the Association's position: "The largest and most reliable study conducted to date on the issue documents that 98% of the tenants surveyed stated that their property management company did provide access to the telecommunications provider of their choice."
BOMA International has a long history of defending the rights of property professionals on the forced access issue. The association has successfully asserted in the past that forced building entry violates the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the taking of private property.
Richard Byatt
