Part 1: Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Overview
Part 2: Mobile Technology and the Promise of 5G
Part 3: 5G: Another step in the evolution of infrastructure
Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity UCITS ETF
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) sees global internet
traffic growing 3.7-fold between 2017 and 2022, and monthly internet traffic
will rise to more than 350 exabytes per month, up from 96.0 EB per month in
2017[1].
- By 2023, Cisco Systems sees 5.3 billion internet
users that will have 3.6 networked devices each, up from 2.4 in 2018, just one
more reason to expect that data traffic will continue to grow, taxing the
digital infrastructure.
Digital infrastructure is the backbone of our increasingly
digital lifestyle and the connected organization. In just six seconds in the US
alone during 2019, 4.4 petabytes (4.4 million gigabytes) of internet data was
transmitted an increase of 41% compared to 2018[2]-
as people increasingly streamed, researched and searched, booked a ride,
ordered food, shopped, shared photos and messaged. Pre-pandemic, Cisco Systems
(CSCO) forecasted global internet traffic to grow by 3.7x between 2017 and 2022
as the number of users, the number of devices per user, and the amount of data
per device all increase.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand that was
expected to grow over the coming years instead appeared much more rapidly,
exposing shortcomings and network deficiencies. This was summed up rather
succinctly by Nokia’s (NOK) Sandy Motley President of Fixed Networks –
"Many customers had planned to grow
their network by 30% to 40% over the next few years, assuming a similar growth
in traffic, but Covid-19 brought in that traffic growth overnight[3].”
As we have become increasingly aware during the pandemic,
without a viable digital infrastructure our devices quickly become expensive
paper weights.
As mobile network and other broadband operators add capacity
to their existing networks, in the second half of 2020 the rollout of next
generation broadband technologies, including 5G, accelerates. Recent 5G network
announcements build on the 114 commercial networks that were deployed across the
globe exiting the June 2020 quarter. Per data from TeleGeography[4],
the number of 5G deployments is expected to double by the end of 2020. The
deployment of these and other next generation networks are poised to accelerate
data consumption and creation for existing applications. This will boost
capital spending by network operators and enable a new class of connected
devices and services as data speeds and network latency leapfrog many orders of
magnitude, dramatically expanding the addressable market.
By 2022, new and existing applications are expected to drive
mobile data traffic alone to 930 exabytes per year, an 11,300% increase over
2012, which equates to all the movies ever made crossing global mobile networks
every 5 minutes[5]. Current uses
include streaming services, video communication, distance learning and telemedicine,
all of which tax network capacity, while near-term drivers of mobile data
traffic include the immersive gaming and virtual reality, Edge Computing and
Internet of Things (IoT) applications in the home, hospitals, manufacturing and
other environments. 5G and other disruptive broadband enabling technologies
will foster new rich data applications that will spur additional data
consumption, eventually resulting in network congestion that will require
further infrastructure buildout even as next generation technologies, such as
6G are being developed to alleviate future network constraints. Already the
South Korean government targets 2026 as the year in which it will begin its 6G
trials with a stated goal of having that technology and those networks
commercially available between 2028-2030.
Tematica Research’s Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity
investment theme captures the virtuous cycle of rising data consumption /creation
giving birth to new technologies and new applications that generate ever-rising
demand for additional capacity. These digital backbone enablers run the gamut
from infrastructure equipment and semiconductors to intellectual licensing and
networking equipment that combine to form the connective data ecosystem we rely
on today and those that will support the applications of tomorrow. This
revolutionary theme captures the companies that enable the digital applications
of both today and tomorrow that will redefine not only how people work, live
and play, but how the increasingly connected and virtual organisation conducts
its operations and serves customers. The theme is composed of six segments:
data centres; data networks; digital connectivity; digital transmission;
digital processing; and digital solutions and IP.
Sub-theme
|
Description
|
Data centres:
|
The connective hubs and backbone that allow for the communication, processing, backup, and distribution of data across vast digital networks. Example companies include Equinix (EQIX) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR).
|
Data networks:
|
The mobile, cable, and fiber networks that are the connective tissue of the digital infrastructure. Example companies include F5 Networks (FFIV) and ACI Worldwide (ACIW).
|
Digital connectivity:
|
Communication chips that enable cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Near Field Communication (NFC) and other communications protocols that connect our wired and mobile devices to the digital infrastructure. Example companies include Qualcomm (QCOM) and Skyworks (SWKS).
|
Digital transmission:
|
The transceivers, multiplexers, servers, routers, fiber, card readers and receivers that comprise the connective hubs. Example companies include Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Ericsson (ERIC).
|
Digital processing:
|
Processor chips utilized in routers, network switches, and other digital infrastructure equipment. Example companies include NVIDIA (NVDA) and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI).
|
Digital services and intellectual property:
|
Platforms, essential services and other solutions that support digital infrastructure. This also includes R&D intensive companies and their licensing business models that develop cutting-edge digital and networking technologies. Example companies include Square (SQ), Cloudera (CLDR) and InterDigital (IDCC).
|
Everything from banks and hospitals to the military and
utility systems increasingly rely on the internet and the infrastructure that
enables it. Because of this, there is far greater reliance on the availability,
stability and capacity of the global digital infrastructure. Deloitte estimates
the average high-connectivity country stands to lose at least 1.9% of its daily
GDP for each day all Internet services are shut down. For an average
medium-level connectivity country, the loss is estimated at 1% of daily GDP,
and for an average low-connectivity country, the loss is estimated at 0.4% of
daily GDP. In the long-term, digital networks will be fast enough to enable
artificial intelligence and connected drones and robots to serve as the
communication backbone for autonomous vehicles that are navigating the highways
and byways across the globe. The adoption of IoT and other digital disruptors
will only increase the economic imperative of the ever-expanding digital
infrastructure, resulting in rising demand for the digital infrastructure and
connectivity products and services.
Background: Parallels
between the US Highway System and Future Connectivity
We are in the midst of a digital infrastructure
buildout that in many ways resembles that of the US Interstate Highway System.
Were there roads before the US Highway System? Yes, but they were very limited.
In the 1920s the Bureau of Public Roads provided funding for a system of paved
two-lane interstate highways that were built by state highway agencies. When
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the
Interstate Highway System was launched to provide a high-speed, high-capacity
system of highways that supported significantly accelerated economic growth.
"If we are ever to solve our mounting traffic problem,
the whole interstate system must be authorized as one project, to be completed
approximately within the specified time”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower 1956
Flash forward to the current day and according to the ATA American Trucking Trends 2020, in
2019 trucks using the Interstate Highway System, as well as other freeways,
highway and roads, “moved 67.7% of surface freight between the U.S. and Canada
and 83.1% of cross-border trade with Mexico, for a total of $772 billion worth
of goods crossing the borders.”[6] It’s not just
trucks that drive that network of highways and byways, according to new data
released by the US Federal Highway Administration. Drivers in cars, trucks,
minivans and SUVs put a record 3.24 trillion miles on the nation's roads in
2018, up just over 9% from 2.97 trillion miles in 2010[7]. The bottom line is
without the backbone of the Interstate Highway System, the US economy would not
have enjoyed such powerful growth rates for decades.
That network of highways, freeways, Interstate Highways
and the bridges, tunnels and roads that connect them are the backbone of the
American transportation system similar to the way the telephone, cable, fibre
optic, undersea network connections, wireless networks and the chips,
components and data centres that support
and enable them to form the global digital infrastructure. That backbone
supported a global digital population of 4.57 billion active internet users as
of July 2020[8], up from 3.95
billion in June 2018.

For illustrative purposes only.
Cisco Systems sees global internet traffic growing
3.7-fold between 2017 and 2022, and monthly internet traffic will rise to more
than 350 exabytes per month, up from 96.0 EB per month in 2017. To put that
into perspective, that 350 exabytes per month equates to 1 trillion DVDs per
year, 88 billion DVDs per month, or 120 million DVDs per hour. By 2023, Cisco
Systems sees 5.3 billion internet users that will have 3.6 networked devices
each, up from 2.4 in 2018, which means there is a high probability data traffic
will continue to grow further, taxing the digital infrastructure. Of that
traffic, nearly 60% will be from WiFi, 21% wired, and more than 20% in the form
of mobile data, up from 9% in 2017.
The drivers behind this expected global growth include
increased consumption of content, shopping, communicating, and transacting
across a greater number of devices; smartphones, tablets, PCs, TVs, wearables,
smart speakers, cars, various home appliances in the kitchen and bathroom and
other Internet of Things (IoT) applications are available on wired and wireless networks.

Source: Cisco Systems
For illustrative purposes only
5G and future network advancements are among the few
cases that exemplify “build it and they will come.” 5G will make immersive
experiences such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) possible
with more uniform data speeds, lower latency, and lower data transmission
costs. 5G will make reliable and protected remote control of mission-critical
infrastructure or vehicles possible. It will also allow for a massive number of
embedded sensors to be in nearly everything, providing seemingly endless
opportunities to improve not just user experiences with technology but also our
lives.


For illustrative purposes only
Source: GSMA Intelligence
By 2025, according to GSMA Intelligence, almost
three-quarters of global internet users will be mobile-based as global
smartphone adoption will increase to 80% from 63% (3.3 billion people) in 2018.
The build-out of existing networks will continue and the deployment of newer
network and backhaul technologies will be imperative to handle the coming data
explosion.
Hands down, the biggest category of data consumption will
remain video. Video traffic exploded in the mid-2000s, and by 2016 it accounted
for 12% of all data traffic. However, by mid-2010, Cisco noted that internet
video had grown to over one-third of all consumer internet traffic as network
coverage and data speeds improved, offering a more robust, more TV-like
experience.
Global IP video traffic is expected by Cisco Systems to grow
4-fold from 2017 to 2022 reaching 325.4 exabytes per month by 2022, up from
91.3 EB per month in 2017, roughly 82% of all IP traffic by 2022.[9]
There will be other categories as well driving that data
traffic, such as the connected car, connected home, wearables, virtual
assistants, and the Internet of Things (IoT). As computing and connectivity
costs continue to fall in the coming years, while average bandwidth speeds
increase, the combination will foster the development of new devices and
consumer behaviours that will drive the creation and consumption of more data.
For illustrative purposes only
Source: Statista 2020
Internet of Things
25 billion IoT devices globally expected in
2025

For illustrative purposes only
Source: Statista 2020
All of that growing data
traffic will test network capacity, in some cases straining existing networks
with low bandwidth, high loss rate issues, network coverage vs. network
capacity constraints as well as rough network handoffs. These are some of the factors that lead to a
dropped call, frozen screen or even worse “No Service” – an exceptionally
frustrating experience when trying to get work done or when a streaming video
drops just as you get to a movie's cliff-hanger. In a world in which people
increasingly demand to be always connected, capacity will have to expand to
keep up with expectations, and this is not limited just to wireless networks, as
outages from cable and fibre networks aren’t exactly unheard of either.
In today’s world of cord cutters, service issues and cost
drive consumers to vote with their feet when it comes to internet connectivity.
In some cases, network operators have little to no choice given that copper
networks are well past their life expectancy and managing physically aging
networks leads to frequent outages with expensive truck rolls. Usage issues
also plague other service providers like wireless ISPs (WISPS), which was
summed up rather nicely by Alex Philips of the WISP Association.
Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity UCITS ETF
With almost 5 billion people connected to the internet in
2020[10] (a majority of the
world’s population), continuous access to digital information and communication
is in growing demand.
This trend towards digitization and virtual communication
will only accelerate as a larger share of commerce and human interaction continues
to move online, particularly in critical areas such as banking, commerce,
education, government services, entertainment and healthcare.
In 2020, Quikro has partnered with Tematica Research and
HANetf to launch the Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity UCITS ETF (ticker:DIGI)
This revolutionary ETF captures the companies that enable the digital
applications of today and those that will redefine how people work, live and
play tomorrow. It provides exposure to
the explosive growth of the digital infrastructure virtuous cycle of expanding
data, applications, and bandwidth that drives exponential network growth and
development of new technologies.
Our Technology ETF follows
the Tematica BITA Digital Infrastructure Index developed by US-based Tematica
Research comprising 80+ publicly listed global equities active within digital
infrastructure sector.
Within the sphere of digital infrastructure, six major
sub-sectors have been identified from the journey of data as it travels from
storage to end-user. These are:
- Data centres
- Data networks
- Digital connectivity
- Digital transmission
- Digital processing
- Digital services and intellectual
processing
Digital Infrastructure& Connectivity UCITS ETF provides investors with an opportunity to take a
long-term view on all six of these sub-sectors at once. It is the first ETF of
its kind to track digital infrastructure and connectivity in this way.
The Technology ETF is domiciled under the Ireland UCITS regime with
listings on the London Stock Exchange (Ticker: DIGI), Börse Frankfurt, and
Borsa Italiana.
When you trade ETFs your capital is at risk.
Why Invest?
Exposure to digital megatrends
Global internet traffic is expected to grow 370% by 2022
according to Cisco Systems as the number of users, devices per user, and data
per device all increase[11].
The roll-out of 5G, cloud, internet of things and other disruptive technologies
will dramatically accelerate the trends of digitalisation and virtual
communication. With that arises a growing need for digital infrastructure and
connectivity to support the immense amount of data flowing between them.
A unique investment proposition
Our Technology ETF offers investors access to a basket of companies that
spans data centres, networking equipment and related hardware, corresponding
essential services and IP focused companies.
The unique, transparent, rules based Tematica BITA Digital
Infrastructure and Connectivity Index (TBDIGI) is broader than other digital
segments such as 5G or telemedicine. It seeks to identify those companies that
will benefit from the explosive growth in data traffic across all digital
segments as next-generation connective technologies roll out, resulting in
ever-increasing demand for better digital infrastructure and connectivity
solutions.
Potential returns
The performance of TBDIGI Index returned 40.87% over the last
12 months[12].
Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
Risk of investing
As with all
investments you should be fully aware of the risks of trading ETFs:
- Thematic ETFs are exposed to a limited number of
sectors and thus the investment will be concentrated and may experience high
volatility
- When you trade ETFs, your capital is fully at
risk
- Past performance is no guarantee of future
performance
- Exchange rate fluctuations can have both
positive and negative effects on returns
- Further risks are disclosed in the KIID and
prospectus
For a
detailed list of risks, please consult the KIID and prospectus
Backtested
performance from 12/18/2009-08/30/2020.
Live
performance from 08/31/2020- 9/30/2020.
Performance
before inception is based on back tested data. Back testing is the process of
evaluating an investment strategy by applying it to historical data to simulate
what the performance of such strategy would have been. Back tested data does
not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication
of actual or future performance. Past performance for the index is in USD. Past
performance is not an indicator for future results and should not be the sole
factor of consideration when selecting a product. Investors should read the
prospectus of the Issuer (“Prospectus”) before investing and should refer to
the section of the Prospectus entitled ‘Risk Factors’ for further details of
risks associated with an investment in this product.
Source:
Tematica. Data as of 30 September 2020
Trading information
Exchange |
Bloomberg Code |
RIC |
ISIN |
SEDOL |
Currency |
TER |
London Stock Exchange |
DIGI LN |
HADIGI.L |
IE00BL643144 |
BJP4Y29 |
USD |
0.69% |
London Stock Exchange |
PIGI LN |
PIGI.L |
IE00BL643144 |
BJP4Y18 |
GBP |
0.69% |
Deutsche Boerse Xetra |
DIGI GY |
DIGI.DE |
IE00BL643144 |
BMW4W85 |
EUR |
0.69% |
Borsa Italiana |
DIGI IM |
DIGIT.M |
IE00BL643144 |
BMW4W74 |
EUR |
0.69% |
Download the DIGI Whitepaper here.
About Quikro
Quikro
Ltd is an investor in the financial services industry. Its purpose is to
sponsor the launch and development of innovative exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
listed primarily in Europe. Quikro’s ETFs aim to outperform the broader
market by employing novel alpha-seeking investment strategies structured around
long-term defensible tailwinds whether economic, demographic, social or
otherwise. Quikro does not sponsor any ETFs unless they are unique and
follow an investment thesis not easily accessible through other ETF providers.
Quikro is mindful of the importance of sustainable, responsible investment and
believes that underlying entities that take Environmental, Social and Corporate
Governance (ESG) represent better long-term investments for its ETFs.
About Tematica
Tematica
Research is an independent investment research firm focused on the development
of thematic investment indices through a top-down (global macro) and bottom-up
(industry and company fundamentals) approach.
This
approach to thematic investing identifies the structural changes and pain
points that arise from the intersection of evolving demographics,
psychographics, technology, economics, and public policy. These changes and
pain points result in pronounced secular market shifts that shape and impact
behavior, forcing companies to make fundamental changes to their businesses to
succeed.