Can You Hear Me Now? Good

The Mister had lunch with one of the big telecommunication company's representatives this week, as he has on past occasions. They are always very friendly, open conversations, just checking in to see if he wants to set up a preferred provider agreement for Morrison Ranch. These agreements don't exclude the other companies from providing service, but they do allow a leg up for the company with the agreement by advertising in the models to the exclusion of others. This article in the AZ Republic explains how preferred provider agreements work:

Being the preferred provider gives the company exclusive rights to market its products inside the model homes as well as on community Web sites and in development newsletters. Often the competitive advantage is so great that other companies choose not to serve the areas.

The article goes on to tell the story of several developments throughout the valley that have preferred provider agreements:

In many cases, the preferred-provider status in a development is seen as such a competitive advantage that other companies choose not to build infrastructure within the project. Qwest has elected not to serve the more than 14,000-home Verrado community west of Phoenix where Cox is the preferred provider. At DC Ranch in Scottsdale, Qwest is the preferred provider and Cox has stayed out.

The Mister thus far has felt he can't commit to one provider because it isn't clear who will offer the best technology consistently; sometimes one company seems to be ahead of the curve, sometimes another. The Mister is pretty partial to technology, and wants our residents to be able to utilize the most innovative systems available. So, at the moment, Morrison Ranch has not entered into any preferred provider agreements.