Why Telecom Is a Nightmare for Real Estate & REITs—And What You Can Do About It

In the fast-moving world of real estate and property management, telecom expenses are often overlooked until they become a massive headache—or worse, a silent budget killer. For REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and large property management companies, the challenge is even more pronounced.

With portfolios constantly shifting through acquisitions, divestitures, and internal reorganizations, managing telecom services across hundreds—or even thousands—of addresses becomes nearly impossible without the right tools.

At SpikeFli, we’ve helped real estate organizations uncover six- and seven-figure waste, simply by centralizing and cleaning up their telecom environment.

🏢 The Problem: Why Real Estate & REITs Struggle With Telecom

1. Disparate Systems and Decentralized Teams
Each property, region, or division may be managing their own telecom services in silos. Without a central view, services are frequently duplicated, misaligned, or simply forgotten.
2. Frequent Property Turnover REITs are in constant motion, buying and selling assets. When telecom isn’t actively managed through the transition process, services often remain active—and billed—long after they’re needed.
3. Legacy Infrastructure and Ghost Assets:  Phone Lines, phones, alarm systems, and mobile plans often stay live at vacant or divested sites. Without tracking, these costs quietly accumulate.
4. No Unified View of Telecom Inventory

Most companies can’t answer:
“What services are active at each address, under which contract, and at what cost?”

That lack of visibility leads to uncontrolled spending and missed opportunities.

💥 Real Impact: $32,000 a Month in Unnecessary Charges

One national REIT discovered it had been paying over $32,000 per month for telecom services at properties it no longer owned. These legacy charges had persisted for years and were only caught when SpikeFli performed a full audit.

🔍 Centralized Data Is a Game-Changer for Real Estate Operations

With SpikeFli, you gain a powerful, searchable platform that brings order to your telecom chaos.

🔄 Acquisitions, Divestitures, and Internal Transfers—Done Right

During Acquisitions:

• Identify inherited services and contracts before they become liabilities.
• Spot duplicate vendors or plans and consolidate for bulk pricing.
• Ensure uninterrupted service by migrating telecom support with clear accountability.
• During Divestitures:
• Avoid paying for services at sold sites by triggering disconnect workflows.
• Transfer documentation cleanly to new owners when required.
• Prevent post-sale liability with automated contract closure tracking.
• During Internal Restructuring:
• Accurately allocate costs between divisions or funds.
• Maintain clean audit trails that satisfy both investors and regulators.

• For large REITs and property management firms with international footprints, managing telecom isn’t just about scale—it’s about untangling the web of:

• Hundreds of addresses in different countries

• Thousands of telecom accounts across dozens of vendors

• Multiple currencies, tax structures, and regional service standards

• Inconsistent billing cycles, terms, and support SLAs

• Most global vendors don't send a single invoice—they send hundreds. And each one might represent a separate account, location, or service plan. Without centralization, your teams are blind to the full picture.

📉 The Cost of Vendor Sprawl

• Without a platform like SpikeFli:

• You lose leverage in vendor negotiations.

• Your AP team wastes hours reconciling fragmented bills.

• You unknowingly pay for redundant or inactive services.

• Regional teams struggle to get timely support or account changes.

• With SpikeFli, your real estate organization can:

• Normalize data across regions and currencies

• Roll up costs by country, portfolio, or property type

• Track every account number tied to each vendor and location

• Use real-time alerts to monitor billing anomalies or usage spikes

• Visualize your entire telecom landscape on a geo-mapped dashboard

  
  
  

🗺️ Geo-Mapping: Inventory Visibility Like Never Before

One of SpikeFli’s most powerful tools is interactive mapping. It ties all contracts, services, and telecom assets directly to the physical address they support.

✅ Mapping Benefits:

• See where your assets and services are across your entire real estate portfolio.

• Instantly understand what’s deployed at each location—by vendor, by service type, or by cost center.

• Identify underused or redundant services with visual cues.

• Plan new builds, upgrades, or shutoffs with geographic intelligence.

• SpikeFli delivers real-time insights to property managers, procurement officers, CFOs, and operations leaders. Dashboards include:
• Upcoming contract renewals or term expirations
• Top vendors by spend and service count
• Billing anomalies by region or service
• Alerts for duplicate services across overlapping addresses
• Multi-currency conversion summaries for executive reporting

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• In real estate, every dollar counts. Your ability to control operating expenses, especially recurring telecom and technology costs, directly impacts your NOI and investor confidence.
• SpikeFli gives REITs and property managers a centralized, intelligent, and scalable way to govern these costs—whether you manage 50 buildings or 5,000, across one country or many.
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👉 Let’s get your telecom under control. Book a free demo and we’ll show you exactly where you’re overspending, under-leveraging, and at risk.

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