BellSouth partners on community portal

BellSouth Community Technologies, a unit that deals with planned communities and multi-dwelling units, has partnered with Resident Interactive to jointly market a community portal that developers can offer to their residents.

The partnership is a response to demand from developers looking to create amenities such as community portals to differentiate their properties in a tougher housing market, said John Stuhrenberg, vice president of product and operations for BellSouth Community Technologies.

“We are reacting to a market trend or demand—in a number of these communities, developers are trying to create a sense of community,” he said. “We encountered developers who had located someone to put together a portal or were trying to do it themselves.”

The portal becomes the place where local residents can learn about local activities, sell used items, schedule social events and get to know their neighbors, Stuhrenberg said.

As it did with last week’s announcement of bundled Wi-Fi for planned communities, BellSouth Community Technologies is trying to become more competitive in working with developers and, through them, with customers.

“That was why we founded BellSouth Community Technologies, Stuhrenberg said. “This is a very competitive market, and we are looking for ways to differentiate what we offer.”

The portal can be packaged with any BellSouth network offering, including fiber to the premises or combined fiber/copper offerings.

“Especially as the real estate market has now gone through a cycle, and things have slowed down, developers are seeking to differentiate their properties, and fiber to the premises is one way to do that,” Stuhrenberg said. “High-speed data can be a differentiator. Some of the arrangements in terms of how we bundle and package the voice, video and data together can be a differentiator and, in some cases, the developer makes a decision to purchase that bundle and provide it as an amenity.”

Resident Interactive's Digital Village Service already has sold its service, which features a virtual representation of a neighborhood where residents can meet, form groups, make plans and link with local businesses. BellSouth has also put out bids featuring the new portal service.