By Rainbow Blue Nelson
Property Week, 23 January 2001
A telecoms firm is set to provide broadband services for more than 7.9 million m² of office space in more than 2000 UK buildings.
HighSpeed Office will link up with a consortium of landlords to spend £20m on putting the high-speed internet link into their offices.
Chief executive Chris Butchers said the wiring of buildings in the USA has yielded roughly a 5% increase in the value of landlords' buildings while city buildings without broadband capabilities have often proved difficult to let.
The consortium includes British Land, Canary Wharf, Legal and General Property, Morley Fund Management and Prudential Property.
Discussions on which buildings to connect first will be held next week.
Services would include secure access, data and video capabilities as well as support services.
British Land director Nick Ritblat said: "The consortium is very excited by the opportunity to join forces with HighSpeed Office to provide broadband services to our tenants.
"By aggregating our real estate portfolios with their telecommunications expertise, we will be able to address efficiently our tenants' growing requirements for access to electronically-delivered information and services."
HighSpeed Office, founded by Butchers with former St Martin's Property director Malcolm Savage, has appointed ARC Associates to raise the £20m for a two-year roll-out.
Most of the funds will come from the consortium with the five members taking a majority stake in the company.
Discussions are under-way with 15 other UK property owners interested in joining them.
Reproduced from Property Week
http://www.propertyweek.co.uk/