Week 25: What if your Networks were a revenue line?

In this weekly series, we explore how the commercial real estate industry is being transformed by data and digital infrastructure. Guided by the principles in Peak Property Performance, we unpack a new idea every week to help owners unlock value, reduce risk, and future-proof their portfolios. Learn more about OpticWise and Bill Douglas, the authors of this series.

In most commercial buildings, network infrastructure is treated like plumbing: necessary, expensive, and invisible.

But what if your building’s networks were more than just a utility?

What if they were a revenue stream?

It’s not a hypothetical. For digital-first owners, property-wide networks are becoming platforms for value creation—serving tenants, powering building systems, moving valuable data, and generating new income.

The Traditional Connectivity Model Is Broken

In legacy setups, owners allow ISPs to directly service tenants. Each tenant contracts individually, installs their own gear, and runs isolated systems. Meanwhile, ownership has:

• No visibility into what’s running on-site
  
  
• No control over quality or security
  
  
• No leverage to negotiate better terms
  
  
• No access to valuable data
  
  
• No additional revenue from any of it

Worse, multiple overlapping networks drive up costs, create security risks, and make system integrations a nightmare.

The Digital Utility Model Turns the Table

Instead of outsourcing the network to third party vendors, smart owners are taking ownership of it—literally.

A property-wide, owner-controlled network (ie digital infrastructure) becomes part of the building’s infrastructure—just like power or water. This digital utility model enables:

• Tenant internet plans, resold at a sizable margin
  
  
• Bundled digital services as part of tenant-choice packages
  
  
• Access control, sensors, energy, and BMS systems to run on a unified, secure backbone
  
  
• Connected experience platforms to layer over one infrastructure
  
  
• New sources of NOI, directly from network-based services

From Expense Line to NOI Engine

When owners control the digital infrastructure, networks become strategic assets—not sunk costs.

The business case for building-owned networks is no longer speculative. It’s math…. Math that results in higher incomes and higher valuations.

How to Get Started

Step 1: Audit your DDI readiness  Use the PPP Digital Infrastructure Review to evaluate your building’s current connectivity landscape—wiring, handoffs, control, and gaps.

Step 2: Map use cases   Look at the tenants and systems that would benefit from secure, unified, property-wide connectivity.

Step 3: Partner for monetization   Work with a provider who understands how to operationalize and monetize connectivity—from reselling to managing QoS and security.

Step 4: Make it visible   Your network isn’t just fiber in the walls. It’s an amenity, a utility, and a selling point. Market it that way.

Stop Giving Away the Value

If you’re not monetizing your building’s data and its digital infrastructure, someone else is. ISPs have been profiting off your square footage for years, so have many of your ops vendors. It’s time to bring that value back inside the ownership stack.

Andrew Stanton CEO Proptech-PR

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