How to Reduce Operating Costs at Your Self-Storage Facility
- Craft Enterprises
- Jun 4
- 11 min read
Reducing self-storage operating costs is one of the most direct paths to improving facility NOI in 2026, and it is a priority that operators across the industry are actively pursuing as asking rents remain compressed and competition from new supply continues in many markets.
Typical operating expenses for a self-storage facility run 30 to 45 percent of revenue depending on facility size and level of automation. For a facility generating $400,000 in annual revenue, that means $120,000 to $180,000 in annual operating costs before debt service. Every percentage point reduction in operating costs flows directly to net operating income, which is why cost management has become one of the most important levers available to self-storage operators in the current environment.
Most operators approach cost reduction in predictable ways: staffing efficiency through remote management technology, deferred maintenance schedules, insurance renegotiation, and marketing spend optimization. These are legitimate levers and most sophisticated operators have already pulled them.
The cost category most operators have never formally reviewed is telecom. And it is consistently the category with the most recoverable waste. If you want to understand how a structured review process works across all your facilities, our telecom audit checklist for multi-location businesses covers every step in detail.
Every percentage point reduction in operating costs flows directly to self-storage NOI. For operators who have never formally reviewed their telecom across all facilities, a structured audit typically identifies 15 to 30 percent of total telecom spend as recoverable. A strategy call is where we review what that looks like for your specific portfolio.
The Self-Storage Operating Cost Landscape in 2026
Self-storage operating expenses fall into several categories that operators track closely. Property taxes, which can represent 25 percent or more of total costs. Staffing and payroll. Insurance. Maintenance and repairs. Marketing. Technology platform fees. Utilities.
Telecom sits in a category most operators lump into utilities or technology without breaking it out specifically. That lump-sum treatment is expensive. A self-storage facility paying for internet connectivity, gate access lines, alarm monitoring connections, office phone service, and mobile plans for facility staff has a telecom environment with real complexity that deserves dedicated management.
The industry is also under real pressure in 2026. After the pandemic-fueled development boom, operators are entering 2026 with a clearer understanding of what sustainable growth looks like and what it will take to achieve it. In this environment, finding recoverable costs in categories that have never been formally audited is not just useful. It is essential for protecting NOI and facility valuations.
Where Self-Storage Operators Are Losing Money Without Knowing It
The self-storage operating cost problem is not usually a staffing problem or a maintenance problem. It is almost always a visibility problem. Operators know approximately what each major cost category runs but very few have a precise, line-by-line picture of what they are paying for telecom across every facility.
That lack of visibility is expensive in three specific ways.
Contracts auto-renew without review. A facility that signed a business internet contract in 2022 and has not formally renegotiated it is almost certainly paying above 2026 market rates. Internet pricing has shifted significantly in many markets as fiber competition has expanded. Auto-renewal locks in 2022 pricing at a time when better terms are available.
Services continue billing for systems that no longer exist.
Every time a self-storage facility upgrades its gate access system, replaces an alarm panel, installs new surveillance infrastructure, or changes management software, the old connections and lines that served the previous system should be cancelled. They rarely are. They just continue billing as ghost lines that nobody notices because they are buried inside a complex monthly invoice.
Nobody is benchmarking costs against the current market. Without knowing what comparable facilities pay for internet, alarm lines, gate access connections, and office phone service, there is no way to evaluate whether current rates are competitive. Most self-storage operators have never run a competitive bid on any of their telecom contracts since the original installation.
The Telecom Cost Category Every Self-Storage Operator Overlooks
Technology has become a fundamental part of self-storage operations. As the self-storage industry matures, technology has become the great equalizer, allowing independent operators to compete with national brands. The facilities seeing the strongest ROI in 2026 will be those that invest intentionally.
Investing intentionally means not just choosing the right technology. It means paying the right price for the connectivity and communications infrastructure that technology depends on. A self-storage operator who invests in a modern cloud-based management platform, a smart access control system, and IP surveillance cameras but has never audited the internet circuits, phone lines, and alarm connections powering those systems is leaving significant savings on the table every month.
The Specific Telecom Costs at Every Self-Storage Facility
Gate Dialer and Access Control Lines
Traditional gate dialers at self-storage facilities have historically run on copper POTS lines, the same analog telephone infrastructure that AT&T is actively retiring in 2026. These lines call tenants when they are granted or denied access and enable the basic phone-in entry functionality that older gate systems use.
For facilities still running gate dialers on POTS lines, the cost has increased dramatically. Lines that cost $40 to $50 per month in 2020 now run $100 to $300 or more per month in many markets as carriers retire copper infrastructure and reduce competitive pricing pressure. Modern gate access systems use cellular or IP connectivity that costs significantly less and performs more reliably.
Security and Alarm Monitoring Connections
Alarm panels at self-storage facilities require a communication path to the central monitoring station. For most facilities installed before 2018, that path is a copper POTS line. With AT&T's copper retirement accelerating, these lines are both increasing in cost and decreasing in reliability as maintenance investment in copper infrastructure declines.
A typical self-storage facility has one to three alarm monitoring lines. At current 2026 POTS rates of $100 to $300 per line per month, a facility paying for three alarm lines on copper is spending $300 to $900 per month on connections that digital alternatives replace for $20 to $45 per line per month.
Facility Internet Connectivity
Every modern self-storage facility needs reliable internet for management software, online rental platforms, IP surveillance, smart access control, and any customer-facing technology. Internet is not a discretionary cost. But the rate a facility pays for internet is almost always negotiable and frequently above market for operators who have not run a competitive bid since their original contract.
Standard business internet for a self-storage facility office running cloud management software and IP cameras should run $65 to $150 per month in most US markets in 2026. Facilities paying significantly above this range on contracts that have auto-renewed without a competitive review are paying above market for a commodity service.
Office Phone Lines
Self-storage facilities that maintain an office phone line for customer calls, reservation inquiries, and inbound tenant communication have traditionally run these on standard POTS or business voice lines. The cost reduction opportunity here mirrors every other voice line category: VoIP alternatives run $15 to $30 per line per month versus $80 to $150 per month for legacy voice lines in 2026.
Ghost Lines From Former Systems and Staff
Self-storage facilities change technology frequently. Gate systems get upgraded. Alarm panels get replaced. Management software changes. Staff turns over. Each of these events creates an opportunity for ghost lines to accumulate, lines provisioned for the old system or the former employee that were never formally cancelled when the situation changed.
A self-storage portfolio of 10 facilities that has been operating for five or more years without a formal telecom inventory is almost certainly carrying ghost lines across multiple sites. Each ghost line is typically $30 to $300 per month depending on the service type. At a portfolio level, the accumulation is significant and represents immediate recoverable savings because no negotiation is required. Identifying and disconnecting ghost lines stops the billing immediately. For more on how ghost lines accumulate and how to recover what you are owed, see our guide on ghost lines in business telecom.
What Self-Storage Telecom Costs Look Like at Scale
For a self-storage operator managing 10 facilities with a typical telecom environment at each, here is what the unreviewed cost picture looks like versus what it should look like after a structured audit and renegotiation.
Unreviewed telecom costs for a 10-facility portfolio:
Gate access and alarm lines on POTS at $200 per line average, 3 lines per facility: $6,000 per month Business internet at $250 per facility on auto-renewed contracts: $2,500 per month Office voice lines at $100 per facility: $1,000 per month Ghost lines across portfolio (estimated 2 per facility): $1,200 per month Total: approximately $10,700 per month
After structured audit and optimization:
Gate and alarm lines replaced with cellular or IP alternatives at $35 per line: $1,050 per month Internet renegotiated to current market rates at $120 per facility: $1,200 per month Voice lines migrated to VoIP at $20 per facility: $200 per month
Ghost lines eliminated: $0
Total: approximately $2,450 per month
Monthly savings: $8,250 Annual savings: $99,000
These numbers are illustrative based on typical findings for self-storage portfolios of this size. The actual savings for any specific portfolio depend on current rates, contract terms, and how long the portfolio has operated without a formal telecom review.
$99,000 in annual savings for a 10-facility portfolio. That is the real cost difference between an unreviewed telecom environment and one that has been formally audited, ghost lines eliminated, POTS lines replaced, and contracts renegotiated to 2026 market rates. A strategy call is where we build that number for your specific portfolio.
The AT&T Copper Retirement Problem for Self-Storage Operators
The most time-sensitive telecom issue for self-storage operators in 2026 is the AT&T copper retirement. AT&T stopped accepting new POTS orders in October 2025 and began physically decommissioning copper infrastructure in June 2026. Notice periods for affected customers are now as short as 90 days.
For self-storage facilities with gate dialers, alarm panels, and office lines running on copper POTS, this is not a future planning issue. It is an active operational risk. When a copper wire center is decommissioned, every service running on that infrastructure goes dark, including gate access systems and alarm monitoring connections.
The facilities that are planning proactively are choosing their replacement solutions on their own timeline at market rates. The facilities that wait are facing forced migrations under emergency conditions with limited vendor options and no time to negotiate. For a detailed breakdown of the timeline and replacement options, see our guide on POTS line replacement for multi-location businesses.
Self-storage facilities with gate dialers and alarm panels on copper POTS have 90 days from the time a retirement notice arrives to complete migration. The operators planning now are doing it on their terms. The ones waiting are doing it under pressure. A strategy call takes 20 minutes and tells you exactly where your POTS exposure is across every facility.
How to Audit Telecom Costs at Your Self-Storage Facilities
The process for auditing telecom costs across a self-storage portfolio follows a consistent framework regardless of portfolio size.
Collect 12 months of invoices from every telecom carrier across every facility. This includes internet providers, voice carriers, alarm monitoring companies that include line costs on their invoices, and any mobile carrier providing plans for facility staff. Create a master inventory of every service, every line, and every charge mapped to a specific facility.
Cross-reference every active line against current facility systems. Match each line to the specific system it serves, gate dialer, alarm panel, office phone, surveillance system, staff mobile. Any line that cannot be matched to a current active system is a ghost line candidate.
Compare every rate against current market benchmarks for the service type and geography. Internet rates, voice line rates, and alarm line rates have all shifted significantly in the past two to three years. Rates from contracts signed before 2023 are frequently above what the current market supports.
Identify every contract expiration date. Contracts expiring within six to nine months are immediate renegotiation opportunities. Contracts that have already auto-renewed without a competitive bid are worth renegotiating immediately regardless of expiration date in many cases.
What Multi-Facility Self-Storage Operators Should Be Paying
As 2026 benchmarks for well-negotiated telecom contracts at self-storage facilities:
Gate access and alarm monitoring connections using cellular POTS replacement: $20 to $45 per line per month. This is the replacement for copper POTS lines and represents 70 to 85 percent savings over current 2026 POTS rates at most facilities.
Business internet for a standard self-storage office: $65 to $150 per month for cable or fiber at speeds adequate for cloud management software, IP cameras, and online rental platform operations.
Office voice service on VoIP: $15 to $30 per line per month, replacing legacy voice lines at a fraction of the cost with additional features included.
Any self-storage facility paying significantly above these benchmarks on contracts that have not been renegotiated since 2022 or 2023 is paying above current market rates across every category.
How Craft Enterprises Reduces Telecom Costs for Self-Storage Operators
Craft Enterprises works with self-storage operators managing portfolios of five to fifty or more facilities to audit, optimize, and manage telecom costs across every site.
Our process for self-storage operators covers the complete telecom environment: gate access lines, alarm monitoring connections, facility internet, office voice, and mobile plans for facility staff. We identify every ghost line, every above-market contract, every POTS line requiring urgent replacement due to the AT&T copper retirement timeline, and every billing error generating unwarranted charges.
We then manage the full recovery and optimization process on your behalf: filing disputes for billing errors, coordinating POTS replacement for gate and alarm lines, renegotiating internet and voice contracts using your full portfolio volume as leverage, and establishing ongoing monthly management to sustain savings over time.
For multi-facility self-storage operators, the portfolio negotiation approach is particularly valuable. A 10-facility operator presenting all facility internet and voice contracts as a single opportunity to preferred carriers generates pricing that no individual facility negotiation achieves.
The starting point is a strategy call where we discuss your portfolio size, current telecom environment, and what a meaningful reduction in operating costs would mean for your facility NOI.
Frequently Asked Questions: Reducing Operating Costs at Self-Storage Facilities
What are the biggest opportunities to reduce operating costs at a self-storage facility? For most self-storage operators in 2026, staffing efficiency through remote management technology, insurance renegotiation, and utility management are the categories that receive the most attention.
The consistently overlooked category is telecom, which includes gate access lines, alarm monitoring connections, facility internet, office phone service, and mobile plans. Operators who have never formally audited their telecom across all facilities typically find 15 to 30 percent of their total telecom spend is recoverable through billing error correction, ghost line elimination, and contract renegotiation.
How much does telecom cost for a self-storage facility?
For a self-storage facility operating without a formal telecom review, monthly costs typically run $800 to $1,500 per facility when gate access lines, alarm monitoring, internet, office phone, and mobile plans are combined.
For a 10-facility portfolio, that is $8,000 to $15,000 per month. After a structured audit and optimization engagement, the same portfolio typically runs $2,000 to $4,000 per month, representing $48,000 to $132,000 in annual savings.
What is happening to POTS lines at self-storage facilities?
AT&T stopped accepting new POTS orders in October 2025 and began physical copper decommissioning in June 2026. Self-storage facilities with gate dialers, alarm panels, or office lines running on POTS copper are facing mandatory migration to digital alternatives, with notice periods as short as 90 days.
Cellular POTS replacement solutions provide the same analog interface that gate dialers and alarm panels require at $20 to $45 per line per month, compared to current POTS rates of $100 to $300 or more per line.
What are ghost lines and how do they affect self-storage facilities?
Ghost lines are active telecom services billing every month for systems or connections that no longer have a business purpose. At self-storage facilities, ghost lines commonly appear when gate systems are upgraded and the old dialer line is not cancelled, when alarm panels are replaced and the original monitoring line persists, or when staff members leave and their mobile plans remain active.
Each ghost line typically costs $30 to $300 per month. A portfolio of 10 facilities that has never done a telecom inventory audit commonly carries 10 to 30 ghost lines across the portfolio.
How does portfolio-level telecom negotiation work for multi-facility self-storage operators?
A self-storage operator with 10 facilities has significantly more negotiating leverage with internet, voice, and mobile carriers than any individual facility. Presenting all 10 facilities as a single contract opportunity to preferred carriers generates enterprise-tier pricing rather than the small-business rates each facility pays independently.
This portfolio approach consistently produces 20 to 35 percent better pricing than facility-by-facility renewal and is one of the highest-value changes a multi-facility operator can make to their telecom cost structure.
How long does a telecom audit take for a self-storage portfolio?
For a portfolio of five to fifteen facilities, a comprehensive telecom audit from document collection through findings delivery typically takes three to five weeks. The process requires minimal time from the operator's internal team.
Craft Enterprises collects invoices and contracts, conducts the full analysis, and delivers findings showing exactly where each facility is overpaying and by how much. Implementation of billing dispute filings, ghost line disconnections, and contract renegotiations begins immediately after findings are reviewed.
Related reading: Telecom Audit Checklist for Multi-Location Businesses | Ghost Lines in Business Telecom: What They Are and How Much They Are Costing You | POTS Line Replacement: What Michigan Businesses Need to Do Before 2027