SiFi Networks announced a plan to commit $2 billion, sourced from private investors, to build open-access fiber networks in 30 cities nationwide, the company announced at a press conference at the in-person and virtual Broadband Community Summit.
Plans are to begin developing fiber networks by the end of 2022 and to pass more than 40,000 homes per month by early 2023. Open access networks allow multiple telecoms to use the same infrastructure to provide services.
According to Ben Bawtree-Jobson, CEO of SiFi Networks, the company is working with more than 100 cities and has plans to expand FiberCity Aid, its program that decreases the network costs for ISPs providing service to low-income residents, in an effort to close the digital divide.
Founded in 2012, SiFi Networks’ is looking to privately fund, build and operate citywide, open access, 100 percent fiber networks that are made available to ISPs, providing them with the ability to lease space on SiFi’s network and enter a market quickly and efficiently. ISPs would be expected to concentrate on customer service and support, said SiFi executives.
The company said its open-access model gives “communities a much-needed choice against existing cable monopolies and duopolies whose networks have fallen far behind new technologies and skyrocketing consumer demand.”
SiFi Networks announced a plan to commit $2 billion, sourced from private investors, to build open-access fiber networks in 30 cities nationwide, the company announced at a press conference at the in-person and virtual Broadband Community Summit.
Plans are to begin developing fiber networks by the end of 2022 and to pass more than 40,000 homes per month by early 2023. Open access networks allow multiple telecoms to use the same infrastructure to provide services.
According to Ben Bawtree-Jobson, CEO of SiFi Networks, the company is working with more than 100 cities and has plans to expand FiberCity Aid, its program that decreases the network costs for ISPs providing service to low-income residents, in an effort to close the digital divide.
Founded in 2012, SiFi Networks’ is looking to privately fund, build and operate citywide, open access, 100 percent fiber networks that are made available to ISPs, providing them with the ability to lease space on SiFi’s network and enter a market quickly and efficiently. ISPs would be expected to concentrate on customer service and support, said SiFi executives.
The company said its open-access model gives “communities a much-needed choice against existing cable monopolies and duopolies whose networks have fallen far behind new technologies and skyrocketing consumer demand.”
