Near-net buildings can be defined as:
Near-net buildings are locations that are just a short build away from the buildings that you already service (on-net buildings).
When you’re looking at your total addressable market you have to look at both your on-net building lists as well as your near-net opportunities to fully realize the size of your opportunity.
Near-net is traditionally calculated using one of two methods, line of sight and right of way. Let’s take a look at both of these.
Using line of sight means mapping a straight line from the fiber path or access point to a set distance (based on your own capital constraints), be it 500 feet, 1,000 feet, and so on. Some issues that arrive from this method are:
- It lacks insight into the path that fiber is built on and overstates reach within capital constraints of most providers.
- It doesn’t take into consideration the impediment visibility that increases costs and derails builds.
Knowing these constraints before you go to market will allow you to set the correct pricing and timeline expectations and improve the overall buyer experience.
The right of way method is an improvement on line of sight but it’s not perfect either. The algorithm used for this approach follows the right of way algorithm just like what is used for driving directions. It’s more precise because it more accurately follows the path of how a real-world build actually occurs.
As we noted though, it isn’t a perfect method either, and here’s how it comes up short.
- This method, like line of sight, doesn’t look for impediments so that perspective is still missing from this method, which we pointed out can cause some issues in expectation setting
- Driving right of way doesn’t perfectly translate to how fiber is built and distributed. For example, a one-way road will apply to driving directions but not to a network build
- Network routes aren’t just built along roads. Sometimes they are built following pipelines, railroads, electric transmission grids, etc.
- This method doesn’t account for the distance traveled across private property because it stops at the private property line of the building you are servicing. You need to accurately understand distance across other property types like parking lots and actually penetrate the building to fully understand the total distance needed
- This distance can be really significant in places such as shopping malls, airports, college campuses, etc.
As you can see, there are many factors involved in understanding the full scope of your near-net opportunities, and getting the most accurate and informative views into these buildings is critical in ensuring the opportunity size is accurately portrayed.
We now understand what a near-net building is and how it’s traditionally calculated, but what is the value of identifying these types of locations? Here are a few important benefits of identifying your near-net opportunities:
- Identifying 100% of the commercial locations within a defined distance from your network routes to understand your total addressable market.
- Communicate these locations to your partners to increase the number of wholesale opportunities for your business.
- Share near-net locations identified with internal sales teams to pursue new business and scale up your operation.
- Use this near-net intelligence for future territory planning.
While evaluating your near-net opportunities using any method can be helpful, being as accurate as possible to understand the true potential of your total addressable market will create the most value for your business. Learn how Connectbase helps you execute a more accurate near-net analysis.
Related Resources:
The 5 Pillars of Wholesale Connectivity Selling in 2022
Execute A More Accurate Near-Net Analysis? FAQ Page
‘Using NearNet Analysis To Grow Your Total Addressable Market’