The headline revenue-share number is the easiest term to compare — and the least likely to determine whether a deal is actually good. Here are the eight that do.
A bulk telecom agreement is usually a 7- to 10-year commitment. Over that horizon, the difference between a well-structured deal and a mediocre one can be tens of thousands of dollars in NOI — and a great deal of flexibility you either keep or give away. Yet most property owners evaluate these contracts on a single number: the per-unit revenue share. That number matters, but it's the terms around it that decide whether the deal still looks good in year five.
Before signing anything, get clear answers to these eight questions.
"$X per unit per month" can mean very different things. Is it a flat door fee on every unit, a percentage of revenue, or a one-time bonus amortized over the term? A flat per-door payment across all units is the most predictable — and exactly what you want from a building-wide agreement, since the service is included for every unit. Make sure the payment is structured that way and that you understand how it's calculated before you sign.
Longer terms aren't inherently bad — they're often what funds the carrier's infrastructure investment and your upfront bonus. But watch for automatic-renewal ("evergreen") clauses that re-lock you for years unless you cancel inside a narrow window. You want a defined term with a clear, reasonable notice period to renegotiate or exit at the end.
Many agreements raise the resident rate annually (a 3–4% escalator is common). That's reasonable, but confirm two things: that residents are protected from runaway increases, and that your revenue share rises alongside the rate rather than staying flat while the carrier captures all of the upside.
The FCC prohibits truly exclusive access agreements and certain revenue-sharing arrangements that function as de facto exclusivity in MDUs. A compliant bulk deal gives your property preferred pricing and bulk benefits without unlawfully locking out competitors. Make sure the agreement is structured to comply — both to protect the association or owner and to keep the deal enforceable.
If the carrier installs fiber or upgrades the building's wiring, clarify what happens to that infrastructure at the end of the term. Does it stay with the property (valuable for the next negotiation) or get removed? Ownership of the physical plant strongly affects your leverage at renewal.
Residents will hold the property accountable for internet quality even though the carrier delivers it. Make sure the contract specifies uptime expectations, support response times, and — critically — a named account manager or escalation path for the property, so your office isn't stuck relaying complaints into a general support line.
What happens if the carrier doesn't deliver — chronic outages, missed install timelines, poor support? A strong agreement includes termination rights for material underperformance, not just a flat lock-in. You should never be trapped for a decade with a provider that isn't meeting its obligations.
Bulk agreements typically transfer to the new owner, which can be a selling point — predictable income a buyer will pay for — or a complication if the terms are unfavorable. Understand the assignment clause and how the contract will read to a future buyer's due-diligence team, because it becomes part of what you're selling.
Carrier contracts are written by carrier legal teams to favor the carrier. That's not adversarial — it's just whose interests the document was drafted to protect. The property's job is to make sure its own interests are equally represented before signing, and that requires reading these agreements the way the people who wrote them do.
This is the single clearest place an experienced advisor pays for itself. We negotiate these terms for a living, we know which clauses carriers will move on, and our compensation comes from the carrier — so getting you a stronger deal costs you nothing.
If you already have a bulk agreement in front of you, or a carrier is courting your property, it's worth a second set of eyes before you commit. A free review will benchmark the offer against current market terms and flag anything in the eight areas above that deserves a second look.
The revenue-share headline is the easy part. The terms around it are where a good deal is won or lost.
We'll benchmark your offer against current market terms and flag anything worth renegotiating — free, no obligation.