Investors put a low valuation on the pipes that connect us to the internet

[Commentary] Investors do not put high values on the infrastructure over which all the data travels. Telecom operators, which often control the backbone of their local broadband networks, mostly trade at enterprise values of about six times their earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Data, for them at least, does not pay. Tech trades on at least double that ratio. While no one expects to see the valuations of telecom operators roaring back soon to their highs of the early millennium, the infrastructure of the internet deserves a higher rating.