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Who's Making $480K/Year Off Your Tenants? (Hint: It's Not You)

Who’s Really Profiting From Your Property’s Internet? Let’s be blunt: Someone is making $480,000 a year off your tenants—and it’s not you. If you're still settling for a 4% revenue

July 15, 2025 · 2 min read · By Bill Douglas

TL;DR: Telecoms, SaaS vendors, and connectivity providers quietly earn $480K+ per year from a typical multi-family building's tenants. That's revenue running through your asset that your asset doesn't see. Owner-controlled connectivity redirects it back to NOI — without changing tenant pricing.

Who’s Really Profiting From Your Property’s Internet?

Let’s be blunt:
Someone is making $480,000 a year off your tenants—and it’s not you.

If you're still settling for a 4% revenue share from bulk internet deals, you're not just missing out—you're handing over a massive opportunity.

Your internet vendor isn’t just providing a service.
They’re running a business inside your building.

A business built on:

  • Your real estate
  • Your tenants
  • Your loss of control

And they're winning big.

Let’s Do the Math

Take a typical example:

  • A 1,200-unit multifamily property
  • Standard 4% revenue share = ~$40,000/year

Sounds decent? Think again.
The revenue potential is closer to $1.2 million/year if you owned the digital infrastructure.

You’re giving away over $1 million annually per property.

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It’s More Than Just Lost Revenue

The cost of outsourcing internet isn’t just about the money.
You’re also handing over:

  • Control of tenant data
  • The resident experience
  • Ownership of hardware
  • Flexibility in future services
  • All the upside

They’re not just providing internet.
They’re building a business—on your property, with your tenants—while you collect crumbs.

This Is Happening Right Now

This isn’t hypothetical.

It’s happening right now across portfolios like yours.
Third-party vendors are building profitable, recurring revenue streams using your footprint.

The Fix: Rethink Internet as a Core Asset

It's time to stop thinking of internet service as a nice-to-have amenity.
Start thinking of it as a strategic digital asset.

When you own the infrastructure, you:

  • Own the tenant relationship
  • Own the data
  • Own the experience
  • Own the profit

Control the Pipes. Control the Profit.

If you don’t control the digital infrastructure in your property, someone else already does—and they’re making a fortune.

It’s time to reclaim that value.

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Ready to Own the Upside?

At OpticWise, we help multifamily property owners stop settling for scraps—and start earning what their infrastructure is really worth.

Get the Peak Property Performance Playbook, written by Bill Douglas, CEO, and Drew Hall, Chief Systems Architect of OpticWise, and learn:

  • Why outsourcing internet is costing you millions

  • How to turn digital infrastructure into an owned asset

  • Proven strategies to unlock tenant satisfaction and recurring revenue

    Get the Playbook Now

References Cited

  1. a.co — Get the Playbook Now
  2. peakpropertyperformance.com — Peak Property Performance

Your Next Step

Complimentary CRE Data & Digital Review Session

One building. Map who owns what, where data lives, and where operational burden stacks up vs your KPIs.

Topic clusters

This article is part of the following OpticWise topic clusters. Each pillar page summarises the topic and links to related Insights pieces:

Digital Infrastructure NOI Strategy