Live on Bloomberg TV

00:00HERE TO TALK IT ALL IS ANIL VARANASI. WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH OFFICE WI-FI WE DO NOT QUITE UNDERSTAND? ANIL: EVERY BUSINESS RUNS ON CONDUCTIVITY. MOST COMPANIES DON ' T BUILD THEIR OWN DATA CENTERS. IT IS TIME CONSUMING AND DIFFICULT. WHAT WE THINK IT SHOULD BE LIKE IS SIMILAR TO A UTILITY THAT WHEN YOU GO INTO A SPACE LIKE YOU TURN ON ELECTRICITY OR WATER, IT JUST WORKS. WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS THAT EVERY BUSINESS INCREASINGLY IS RELIANT ON SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY. AND FRANKLY, WE DON ' T THINK THAT WILL SLOW DOWN AT ALL. FOR ALL THIS TO WORK, WE NEED GREAT INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE ACROSS ALL OF THE DIFFERENT MARKET SECTORS. EMILY: YOU WANT INTERNET SERVICE AND INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE A UTILITY. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? ISN ' T IT ALREADY KIND OF A UTILITY. ANIL: OUTSIDE OF THE SPACE, IT TRULY IS. BUT INSIDE A SPACE, IF YOU ARE SETTING UP A WAREHOUSE, SCIENCE LAB, HEALTH CARE, OFFICE SPACE -- IT TAKES MONTHS AND YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT VENDORS. AND YOU HAVE TO TAKE ON THE COMPLEXITY OF MAINTAINING THESE REALLY OLD SYSTEMS. WHAT WE DO IS MAKE ALL OF THAT GO AWAY SO THAT CUSTOMERS CAN JUST GO ON WITH BUILDING THEIR OWN BUSINESS. EMILY: MORE BROADLY, IS THERE A REDISTRIBUTION HAPPENING OF HOW WE USE WI-FI GIVEN THE SHIFT TO REMOTE WORK? MORE PEOPLE WORKING AT HOME? AREN ' T LESS PEOPLE WORKING IN THE OFFICE TODAY? ANIL: WE CERTAINLY SERVICE CUSTOMERS IN OFFICES AND IN WAREHOUSES, LIFE SCIENCES, AND ELSEWHERE. THINK ABOUT THE LAST TWO YEARS WERE WE ALL ORDERED STUFF THROUGH E-COMMERCE. THAT COMES FROM A WAREHOUSE WITH ROBOTS, SENSORS, AND COMPUTERS WHERE EVERYTHING RUNS OFF THE INTERNET. THEY DON ' T RUN ON INTERNET NETWORKING AND WI-FI -- EMILY: I HAVE HEARD SOME INTERESTING COMPARISONS TO YOU ALL AND THE COLLISON BROTHERS THAT COFOUNDED STRIPE. TALK TO US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR STORY AND WHY YOU CHOSE TO TAKE INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE ON WHEN IT COULD HAVE BEEN JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. ANIL: FUNDAMENTALLY, WHAT WE SAW WAS SOMETHING WE WANTED TO SOLVE OURSELVES. AS WE TALK TO DIFFERENT COMPANIES THAT ARE STALWART TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES, WE INCREASINGLY SAW THEM SPENDING A LOT OF TIME AND CAPITAL. BUT EVEN IF WE TAKE A STEP BACK, WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT SOFTWARE LEADING THE WORLD AND TECHNOLOGY EVERYWHERE. I ' M SURE YOUR KIDS WATCH YOUTUBE OR TWITCH OR WE ORDER SOMETHING. ALL OF THOSE NEEDS HAVE AN INFRASTRUCTURE TO FUNCTION. IT ' S IMPORTANT TO GET THAT RIGHT AS TECHNOLOGY GROWS OVER THE NEXT DECADE. EMILY: LET ' S TALK ABOUT DOLLARS. IT WE KNOW YOU RAISED A NEW ROUND OF FUNDING. HOW MANY BILLIONS OF DOLLARS DO YOU THINK ARE UP FOR GRABS? ANIL: THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE LARGEST MARKETS. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME NOTEWORTHY COMPANIES FOR DECADES NOW. RATHER THAN THINKING ABOUT JUST A PARTICULAR MARKET SEGMENT, WHAT SUPPORT TO LOOK AT IS THE BILLIONS OF SQUARE FEET THAT ARE IN ALL OF THE SEGMENTS THAT REQUIRE INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE. EVERY TYPE OF SPACE YOU SEE AS YOU ARE DRIVING BY, WALKING DOWN MAIN STREET, OR THINK ABOUT A COMPANY YOU WORK WITH OR CUSTOMER OF, THOSE ARE ALL CUSTOMERS OR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS. EMILY: IS THERE A NUMBER YOU PUT ON IT? ANIL: NOT REALLY. IT ' S PROBABLY IN THE TENS OR HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS. BUT THE POINT EARLIER WHERE I WAS SAYING, IT IS CURRENTLY ONE OF THE LARGEST MARKETS AND

No schedule data available.

Building Internet Infrastructure Into a Utility

Meter CEO and Co-Founder Anil Varanasi joins Emily Chang to discuss his company's recent $38 Million Series B with backers like Sequoia, Lachy Groom, and Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke. He explains his vision and what he means by making internet service like electricity and telephones. (Source: Bloomberg)

More From Bloomberg Technology
All episodes and clips

Bloomberg Markets
"Bloomberg Markets" is focused on bringing you the most important global business and breaking markets news and information as it happens.
More episodes and clips