Under the TICCS® framework, a number of fundamental economic criteria have to be present for a company and its assets to be meaningfully considered 'infrastructure':

• Single-use investment (no alternative use)
• Sunk or irreversible capital investment
• Large size & long repayment period
• Inflexible total cost structure
• Infrastructure as a service (value through service provision)
• Not a store of value (it's valuable because it's useful)