Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/616872
CONNECTIVITY STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 45 Baloga, vice president of strategic planning and CIO, over the past two years, more than 85 percent of Airwave-served properties have undergone some type of upgrade, whether they be basic bandwidth increases, or fber, wiring or elec- tronic equipment replacement. Student housing management company Homestead America has partnered with networking company Pavlov Media to offer its properties lightning-fast fber connectivity. "Think of it as being able to download a high-defnition movie in 30 seconds, versus it tak- ing 40 minutes with traditional Internet," says Dave Anderson, president of Homestead. Anderson says that Homestead recently completed a $170,000 upgrade at its property in Lub- bock, Texas, called The Ranch. "Since acquiring this property, we have taken bandwidth from 70 mbps to 500 mbps, and the result has been much higher resident sat- isfaction and a 3 percent increase in retention." Rather than constantly pumping capital into upgrades whenever a newer and better system hits the market, these networking compa- nies and student housing opera- tors take a measured approach to updating systems. According to Dave Daugherty, founder and CEO of Korcett, "Because Korcett systems are cloud-based, we can use much less expensive equipment, such as managed switches. This tends to extend the quality of equip- ment life: we have been able to increase equipment life by deploy- ing upgrades and updates through the cloud rather than by constant- ly deploying updates physically, which adds additional stress to the equipment." Sanders points out the impor- tance of keeping the equipment in the best possible condition during its useful life, achieved through proper electrical grounding, suf- fcient HVAC for a controlled environment and cleanliness of the equipment rooms and closets. In addition, he says, "Preventa- tive maintenance through remote monitoring and regular inspec- tion provides protection of the investment." James Whitley, vice president and COO of Landmark Properties, says, "While there is no absolute way to 'future-proof' our devel- opments, we add enough conduit during construction to make addi- tional or different wiring an easier pill to swallow, should a future need arise. We also own our own Partner with Pavlov Media Become neighborhood royalty Royalty always stands out. Being the best means giving them the best of the things they really care about. And great Internet is at the top of that list. Pavlov Media's fiber optic network and Gigabit Internet take you far above the competition. When you partner with us, you're no longer just a place to live--you're the place to live. Learn more 800.677.6812 sales@pavlovmedia.com pavlovmedia.com TM JOHN BALOGA Vice President of Strategic Planning and CIO, Airwave Networks