On June 7th, Winnipeg, Canada hosted DIF Capital Partners’ “Global Digital Insights Forum”, where we brought together our global team of in-house digital experts, industry advisors, and portfolio company leadership to share market insights, best practices and discuss the long-term outlook for the digital sector.
As a leading global mid-market infrastructure manager, DIF is proud to have a proven track record of investing in and scaling up digital infrastructure platforms globally. This includes our investment activities in Canada, where we are building out the rural fiber network in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Here our investments in Valley Fiber and RFNOW enjoy tremendous support from our government and First Nations partners.
As part of our Global Insights Series, DIF published “Building Canadian Digital Infrastructure”, a report summarizing the key takeaways and insights from the event. The themes addressed in the report include:
- The internet has become the fourth utility, and fiber is the fastest way to access it. However, not all fiber is created equal, and finding market niches is critical to achieving superior risk-adjusted returns. DIF has accordingly built a thesis that the economic model for rural fiber boasts significant advantages, and is executing on this thesis across strategic markets globally, including in the Canadian Prairies.
- To build a successful rural network locally, it is important to be first to market, take a strategic and disciplined approach to pricing, provide a superior customer experience and leverage network-build capex to target both residences and commercial premises.
- The advantages of rural fiber broadband are twofold. Market demand for greater speed and bandwidth means fiber broadband provides inflation-protected recurring revenue, future-proofing operators’ need to meet increasing demand. The attractive demographics and economics in key rural markets complement the first-mover advantage and lower competitive intensity, resulting in a utility-like, defensive and simple business model.
The report can be downloaded here: DIF Global Insight Series – Building Canadian Digital Infrastructure (June 2023)
