Multifamily Wi-Fi: Digital Infrastructure or Another Amenity?

Wi-Fi has become an essential part of multifamily. Is it just another amenity, or something much more?

Each year, the week before NMHC OPTECH, I conduct an analysis of the types of companies attending. OPTECH is the industry's vendor showcase, where supplier attendees typically outnumber property management company (PMC) attendees by about two to one. Given the focus on vendors, it is helpful to break down the attendee numbers by vendor category, as it provides a clue to what matters in technology.

This year, as in previous years, the category with the largest share of vendor attendees was not marketing, PMS platforms, or fintech (even when we include the increasingly crowded market for fraud prevention technology!) Instead, it was connectivity—providers of Wi-Fi to multifamily communities—that sent the largest share of representatives.

That tends to surprise most people, but it shouldn't. Customer experiences and property management processes depend increasingly on high-quality Wi-Fi. Installing it represents a consequential investment. Yet it often falls outside the mainstream of what is considered multifamily technology.

Some companies see Wi-Fi as an amenity, much like kitchen appliances or granite countertops. The more enlightened view casts it as essential infrastructure for living experiences. Some executives understand the technology and investment choices, but more do not. This letter will introduce some of the basic ideas, including:

• Why connectivity is becoming more crucial as part of a community's infrastructure;

• The different types of services currently available;

• The major considerations for deploying connectivity solutions in multifamily communities;

• What companies and regulators get wrong about the concept of "consumer choice."