Infrastructure REITs will be the engine that powers new cloud-supporting infrastructure as global smartphone usage ramps up, Jim Taiclet, CEO of infrastructure REIT American Tower Corp, tells NAREIT.
Just 45% of cellphone owners have smartphones, and those who don’t are hungry for handheld WiFi. That demand is showing in infrastructure growth, set to increase 16% year-over-year through 2019.
Mobile companies will rely on infrastructure REITs to drive the new growth—the REITs help operators offload capital-intensive network infrastructure costs to concentrate on being mobile carriers.
And investors are taking notice. Digital infrastructure REITs transitioned from being viewed as telecom stocks to hybrids over the past few years, more readily accepted and owned by REIT-oriented investors, Frederick Moran, an analyst for Florida brokerage Burke & Quick Partners, tells NAREIT. [NAREIT]
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