Tomorrow's technology already evident in residential market.

History repeats itself. The telephone, radio, television and World Wide Web were introduced and embraced in the home long before they migrated to the office. Likewise today, the most forward-looking trends in new technology are emerging in the home.

It's open architecture, distributed residential broadband that "ties" this new package together with telecommunications, information, entertainment and security. For the first time, property owners can provide for all these services on a single, information infrastructure -- just as they do for electricity, water and HVAC.

At Barnes Wentworth, while we design, build and manage communications infrastructure for both commercial and residential property owners, we find that the innovation and sophistication currently desired among residential properties offers a window to the future.

Today and tomorrow, families need and desire:

* High speed, networked Internet and data capabilities that allow family members to share computers, printers, scanners, CD-ROMS, etc. over LANs (local area networks) and WANS (wide area networks).

* Networked, fiber-based broadband connections for new and emerging entertainment options. These include video on demand, high definition television, satellite and internet delivery of full motion video, high quality audio and video downloads and advanced entertainment programming, among others.

* Sophisticated, user-friendly intercom and security systems that can take advantage of a single wiring plant for installation and ongoing management.

* Aesthetic Design: miles of exposed cabling spaghetti that are (still) acceptable in offices are absolutely not acceptable at home. If consumers don't accept exposed electrical equipment, they're not going to accept exposed information equipment.

The vast majority of residential properties have antiquated telephone wiring that cannot support the current demand for multiple voice and data lines. Thus, we have heated competition among dozens of service providers who are vying with the incumbents and each other. Bell Atlantic promotes DSL lines, that utilize its existing twisted pair copper wiring. Time Warner promotes cable modems that utilize its existing coaxial copper wiring. The new kids on the block demand "mandatory access" so that they can either force the incumbents to open up their existing infrastructure or force the property owners to allow them to install their own, separate physical plants.

None of this addresses the needs of the owner, and very little of it addresses the needs of the tenants.

It is not in the owner's interest to have incumbents sell space to their competitors in their existing infrastructure because the owner does not make a dime from these transactions.

And it is not in the owner's interest to have multiple, competing service providers build overlapping infrastructures for different purposes. That's the equivalent of multiple electrical companies installing separate electrical plants, one for the elevator, one for the microwave, one for the dishwasher. (And when you upgrade your dishwasher, watch out -- you'll need a new infrastructure.)

The owner can address his or her business objectives to increase asset value, earn income and provide quality services to tenants in the following ways:

Increase Asset Value:

* Build an advanced, multi-purpose, distributed broadband, open architecture infrastructure that accommodates all competing service providers for all types of technology;

* Own and control this communications infrastructure and its related Information Rights, the 21st Century equivalent of air rights.

Why do these trends represent the future?

First, because consumers demand quality, choice, competitive pricing and aesthetic design, and open architecture, distributed broadband is the only effective way to provide all four necessities together.

Second, because property owners have realized that technology is now a real estate asset.

And third, because once men, women and children take full advantage of the best telecommunications, information, entertainment and security features information technology can offer, the corporate world will not be far behind.