Oct 19, 2026 · 34 min · 10 segments
What’s next for broadband in multifamily? We sat down with Kevin Donnelly of the Real Estate Technology and Transformation Center (RETTC) to discuss the evolving landscape of multifamily connectivity…
Yeah, I mean, look, it is no secret to certainly the viewers today or anyone, unless you're sleeping under a rock, that affordability is a kitchen table issue that is now spilled over into every aspect of public discourse.
You know, affordability is, as we approach the midterm 2026 elections, going to be the driver of where people cast their ballot, how they ultimately support public officials.
So it is no secret that affordability writ large consumer affordability is on the agenda, but housing affordability and.
And so we have been watching a public policy landscape really emerge over the past five or so years as the economy has struggled a little bit, as we've hit some road bumps.
We've watched policymakers reach for the quick political win, the quick sound bite, the messaging piece.
and oftentimes that will deeply impact rental housing it'll impact our residents and sometimes well-intentioned legislation or regulation can ultimately undermine affordability so in the utility space what we're watching is really a knee-jerk reaction by policy makers to sometimes limit the ability of housing providers to recoup utility costs, to fairly pass on increased costs in utility to its residents or to its commercial tenants.
These are all efforts to politically try to address affordability while not addressing the root cause of the problem.
and that's where i think we continue to push policy makers that if they are serious about affordability if they're serious about um really you know benefiting consumers and renters overall they need to come and work with us in partnership and that's why we're really pushing policy makers whether they're talking about solar whether they're talking about ev charging whether they're talking about even outside of multifamily but the impact of data centers on broader community cost that is something that we want to be part of the conversation with them and really help shape a pro-renter public agenda
Yeah, I mean, a lot of this ultimately comes back to the broader conversation around consumer protection, right? Yeah,
Are you seeing some of those same dynamics conversations play out around connectivity specifically? I know we had the benefit of having you at our Conservice Connect event, and this is such a hot topic right now, so much to understand.
Yeah, I mean, look, it is no secret to certainly the viewers today or anyone, unless you're sleeping under a rock, that affordability is a kitchen table issue that is now spilled over into every aspect of public discourse.
You know, affordability is, as we approach the midterm 2026 elections, going to be the driver of where people cast their ballot, how they ultimately support public officials.
So it is no secret that affordability writ large consumer affordability is on the agenda, but housing affordability and.
And so we have been watching a public policy landscape really emerge over the past five or so years as the economy has struggled a little bit, as we've hit some road bumps.
We've watched policymakers reach for the quick political win, the quick sound bite, the messaging piece.
and oftentimes that will deeply impact rental housing it'll impact our residents and sometimes well-intentioned legislation or regulation can ultimately undermine affordability so in the utility space what we're watching is really a knee-jerk reaction by policy makers to sometimes limit the ability of housing providers to recoup utility costs, to fairly pass on increased costs in utility to its residents or to its commercial tenants.
These are all efforts to politically try to address affordability while not addressing the root cause of the problem.
and that's where i think we continue to push policy makers that if they are serious about affordability if they're serious about um really you know benefiting consumers and renters overall they need to come and work with us in partnership and that's why we're really pushing policy makers whether they're talking about solar whether they're talking about ev charging whether they're talking about even outside of multifamily but the impact of data centers on broader community cost that is something that we want to be part of the conversation with them and really help shape a pro-renter public agenda
Yeah, I mean, a lot of this ultimately comes back to the broader conversation around consumer protection, right? Yeah,
Are you seeing some of those same dynamics conversations play out around connectivity specifically? I know we had the benefit of having you at our Conservice Connect event, and this is such a hot topic right now, so much to understand.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
