A New Jersey-based telecommunications company is bringing a $500 million, citywide high-speed fiber optic network to Cleveland at no cost to taxpayers, opening the door for a growing number of options for high-speed internet in the city.
On Monday, Cleveland City Council struck a deal with telecom company SiFi Networks to allow it to build the underground fiber network in the public right of way over the next seven years.
SiFi’s fiber network would give any internet provider access to a high-speed fiber optic network, which transports internet service to homes and businesses.
The move comes a week after the city approved $20 million in funding to offer $18-a-month broadband internet to residents.
"That raised the floor for the minimums here in Cleveland, but we have to raise the ceilings for the maximum potential here," said Austin Davis, Mayor Justin Bibb's senior policy advisor.
Internet speeds on the Sifi fiber will be between 1 and 100 gigabytes per second, according to the company. The $18-a-month broadband internet will start at 100 megabytes per second.
Passage came after hesitance from some council members, who wondered aloud in Monday's finance committee meeting if it was "too good to be true" that a company would build 2,600 miles of fiber infrastructure at no cost to the city.
But SiFi Networks’ President Scott Bradshaw said it’s not. The company already has contracts with 42 other U.S. cities, with 10 projects currently underway. He said they selected Cleveland because of its lack of connectivity.
"You are very, if not significantly, underserved," Bradshaw said. "There are large-scale pockets of your city where there is no fiber investment leading those neighborhoods into the next generation."
Two-thirds of homes and businesses are not connected to fiber optic, Bradshaw said, which could spell big profits for the company in the long term. The group is backed by the multibillion-dollar European pension fund APG, which looks for steady, long-term investments.
SiFi will provide funding for city staff to oversee their permits, as well as additional consultants, like an arborist since most of the fiber optic cable will be laid in tree lawns via underground boring techniques. The city will put out requests for proposals for contractors, which will then have to be presented before the city council for approval.
Similar to other companies seeking to build in the right of way, SiFi can apply for permits, but because of the scale of the project, Davis said that that could bog down the city's processes without additional staff.
