Sigfox announced a strategic partnership with power company Engie and IoT specialist UnaBiz to deploy its Internet of Things network in Singapore.

In a statement, the companies said they will use Sigfox’s “cost-effective, energy efficient connectivity to find receptive markets”, as Singapore implements its Smart Nation initiative, a government led vision to step up connectivity in the country.

The program includes solutions around infrastructure, policy and the wider ecosystem to bring these benefits to all citizens across sectors.

The deployment, meanwhile, will be Sigfox’s first in Asia, with aims to offer nationwide coverage by early 2017.

Sigfox CEO Ludovic Le Moan said the company’s simple solution will ensure a “rapid rollout in Singapore and pave the way for multiple new applications in all business and industry sectors and smart-city uses”.

“The IoT must have a good seamless network infrastructure to enable secure collection, transmission and sharing of that data and to address the total cost of ownership barriers that delay its adoption,” he added.

Sigfox, which competes with proprietary technologies such as LoRA and Ingenu in the delivery of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) for IoT connectivity, said its network is now available in 21 countries, registering 7 million objects. It is targeting 30 countries by the end of this year.

UnaBiz will lead the rollout, and will “drive overall growth of Sigfox’s IoT ecosystem”, while Engie – which owns a minority stake in Sigfox – also uses the network for numerous different projects in other countries, “such as remote monitoring of boilers, metering in heat distribution and smart lighting”.