For board members
Pull your current bulk agreement and answer these seven questions before the next board meeting. If three or more are hard to answer, it’s time to re-bid. Below each question: why it matters, and what a good answer looks like.
Every one of these has cost a real community real money at renewal time.
Most bulk agreements renew on their own, some for years at a time. A board that doesn’t know the end date isn’t deciding anything — the contract is deciding for it. Good answer: the date is on the board calendar at least six months out.
Notice windows are strict: miss one by a week and the community is locked in for another term. Good answer: the notice period, the required method, and the exact recipient are written down somewhere a future board will find them.
A guarantee without a consequence is a brochure. Some contracts have performance clauses that open an early exit — which is leverage even mid-term. Good answer: numbers, remedies, and a log of outages the community has actually had.
Annual escalators add up quietly. The gap between the signing rate and today’s rate is what autopilot has cost so far — and the first number to bring to a renegotiation. Good answer: both rates, side by side, in the board packet.
If the carrier owns the wiring, switching means rebuilding — and they know it. Ownership (or a clear transfer clause) is worth real money at the table. Good answer: the association owns or inherits the physical plant.
Exclusivity keeps competitors from even quoting your property, which is exactly why it’s in there. Good answer: no exclusivity — or a firm end date on it, so the next bid round is a real one.
The market moves while the contract sleeps. If fiber reached your street in the last few years, the economics of your agreement are stale — often dramatically so. Good answer: an address-level availability check newer than the contract. That check is what we do, free. How bulk pricing works →
One recent invoice answers most of these questions faster than a long meeting. We read it, check what every carrier can do at your address, and come back with a comparison your board can vote on — free to the association, options in 24 hours. Send a bill on the providers page →
Three or more hard to answer?
Then the checklist has done its job. Tell us where your community is, and we’ll show you what the market looks like at your address.