APG and Whitehelm Capital, on behalf of the Smart City Infrastructure Fund, have agreed to partner with SiFi Networks America Ltd (SiFi) to invest over US$ 75 million in the deployment of Smart-City ready digital infrastructure in the City of Fullerton, California. The investment will enable the roll-out of the largest privately funded open access fiber network by SiFi in North America.

The Smart City Infrastructure Fund – the first of its kind globally – was established by APG and Whitehelm Capital in November 2018 to provide long-term funding for Smart City infrastructure projects enabling cities and communities to become more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Smart Cities is an urban development vision to integrate multiple information and communications technologies and sensor-enabled Internet of Things solutions in a secure fashion to manage a city's assets and processes. The roll-out of such developments at scale requires an effective combination of digital and physical components.

The roll-out of FiberCity, SiFi’s Network’s next generation of telecommunications, in Fullerton will not only provide a significant upgrade to internet speeds and accommodate a growing demand for data from next-generation devices in households and businesses, but it will also facilitate the proliferation of new Smart City solutions in key urban services, such as traffic control, street lighting, and emergency services. Additionally, the fiber network will provide a platform for the future expansion of 5G mobile and IoT networks into the area.

The network will allow Internet Service Providers to deliver retail services (internet, TV, and voice) to residents and businesses throughout an entire city without demographic segmentation. The network will be open to multiple ISPs on an open access basis, unlocking significant benefits to end-users and reducing the need for further connectivity investments within the city area.

Although over 75% of US households have a broadband internet subscription, most include at least an element of copper cable, leading to slow speeds. The US only ranks 14th globally for fiber accessibility. Access to fiber has been shown to be an important contributor to economic growth. With investment in the United States Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) to date is focused on large cities, many small to midsized cities have been missing out.

The FiberCity network in Fullerton will be the inaugural investment for the Smart City Infrastructure Fund and it is part of a broader partnership with SiFi over a pipeline of cities that have expressed an interest for similar digital infrastructure. TradeRisks Limited is acting as Financial Advisor to SiFi.