April 27, 2010—PETALUMA, CA—Calix (NYSE: CALX) today announced that Reservation Telephone
Cooperative, BEK Communications Cooperative, and Dakota
Central Telecommunications – all of which were awarded
funds in Round One of the Broadband Initiatives Program of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – are moving "Fiber Forward" by selecting the Calix Unified Access portfolio to deliver broadband services to underserved and unserved
communities across North Dakota and Montana. Rural subscribers included in the
projects awarded to these three communications service providers (CSPs) will be
served directly by both gigabit passive optical network (GPON) and Active
Ethernet (AE) technologies, capable of broadband speeds up to one gigabit per
second (Gbps) and delivering advanced services such as Internet Protocol
television (IPTV). With today's announcement, Calix has been selected as the
access vendor of choice for all five awarded "Last Mile" and "Middle Mile" Broadband Stimulus projects
in North Dakota and Montana, representing a total of $37.2M in Stimulus-related
grants, loans, and private investment for plant engineering, materials, labor,
and other costs, including access equipment.
"We believe the
need for advanced broadband services in the state of North Dakota is as strong
as, if not stronger, than anywhere else in the country, but the predominantly
rural geography and long winters of our state pose unique challenges in pulling
fiber deep enough into our network to deliver high bandwidth services to many
of our residents," said Keith Larson, general manager of Dakota
Central Telecom. "The combination of the Broadband Stimulus
program, coupled with Calix fiber access solutions optimized to address the
deployment and ongoing operational challenges of rural service providers, has
provided us with the opportunity to move 'Fiber Forward' with Calix and deliver
some of the nation's most advanced services to North Dakotans that otherwise
would have been left behind. Calix has become the obvious choice for communications
service providers in our region not only because their Unified Access portfolio
is well suited to our deployment needs, but also because they have proven over
time that they understand the unique challenges of rural operators and they
continue to deliver and meet the needs of our business and our subscribers."
"Calix played an instrumental
role in helping us to understand the strategic opportunity that the Broadband
Stimulus program held for both Reservation Telephone and our subscribers," said Royce Aslakson, general
manager of Reservation Telephone Cooperative. "Thanks to this program, we will be
providing not only advanced broadband services, but hope and opportunity to
some of the most economically challenged areas of the country. We have
appreciated the assistance that Calix has provided to us throughout this
process, and look forward to moving on to the next stages of making the promise
of this program a reality for the rural residents of North Dakota and Montana."
The combined
total project value of the three Round One Broadband Initiatives Program
awarded projects announced today with CSPs that have selected Calix is $32.7
million. This value reflects the total sum of the project awards, and includes
plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access
equipment. Although all of these CSPs are delivering predominantly fiber access
solutions in their networks, each will be leveraging a variety of technologies
to deliver a unique set of services.
- Reservation Telephone Cooperative, with its $21.9 million award consisting of a grant and
loan, will provide service in rural areas in and around the Fort Berthold
Indian Reservation in Montana and North Dakota. The project will use access
equipment provided by Calix, including the EXA PoweredC7
Multiservice Access Platform (MSAP) for delivery of GPON and
very-high speed digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) services, and the 700GX/700GE portfolio of ONTs to
bring traditional voice services, Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV middleware, and
advanced broadband data services to homes, businesses, schools and libraries,
and tribal government facilities, as well as to cell towers for mobile
backhaul.
- BEK Communications (BEK) will use its $6.0 million award, consisting of a grant,
loan, and matching private investment, to deliver GPON and AE broadband services
to underserved homes and anchor institutions in Burleigh County, North Dakota. This
project will leverage access equipment provided by Calix, including the EXA PoweredE7
Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP) for GPON and 10 gigabit
Ethernet (GE) transport services, as well as the extensive 700GX/700GE ONT portfolio. Armed
with this advanced network, BEK will deploy SIP voice over IP (VOIP), Cisco
middleware for IPTV, and advanced data services to households and businesses,
with the goal of supporting consumer demand, business growth, and public safety
in this rural area.
- Dakota Central Telecommunications will use its $4.75 million award, consisting of a
grant and private investment, to bring GPON-enabled broadband services to every
subscriber in its Streeter and Gackle, North Dakota exchanges. This project
will leverage access equipment provided by Calix, including the EXA PoweredE7 ESAP
and a variety of 700GX/700GE
ONTs. Dakota Central Telecommunications will use this advanced network to deploy SIP
VOIP, Nokia Siemens middleware for IPTV, and advanced data services to households,
businesses, and key community organizations, as well as T1 pseudowire (PWE3)
and Ethernet services for cell tower mobile backhaul.
"We
congratulate Reservation Telephone Cooperative, BEK Communications Cooperative,
and Dakota Central Telecommunications on their selection as Broadband Stimulus
award winners," said John Colvin, vice president of field operations at Calix. "Round One 'Last Mile' Broadband Stimulus awards continue to go to
CSPs deploying fiber access technologies, and the Calix Unified Access
portfolio remains the platform of choice for these CSPs because of its ability
to address varying needs across GPON and AE technologies. Calix looks forward
to working with these CSPs to move 'Fiber Forward' in their communities."
About Calix
Calix is a leading provider in North America of broadband
communications access systems and software for copper- and fiber- based network
architectures that enable communications service providers to connect to their
residential and business subscribers. Calix has shipped over six million ports
of its Unified Access Infrastructure portfolio to more than 500 North American
and international customers, whose networks serve over 32 million subscriber
lines in total.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are
based upon management–s current expectations and are inherently uncertain.
Forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us as of the
date of this release and we assume no obligation to revise or update any such
forward-looking statement to reflect any event or circumstance after the date
of this release, except as required by law. Actual results and the timing of
events could differ materially from current expectations, based on risks and
uncertainties affecting the Company–s business. The reader is cautioned not to
unduly rely on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
Additional information on potential factors that could affect Calix–s results
and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in its prospectus, filed with
the SEC on March 24, 2010, available at http://www.sec.gov.
Press Contact:
Catherine Koo
415-992-4400
calix@lewispr.com
