Measuring Broadband Service Quality To Drive Funding Compliance and Growth

Broadband service providers (BSPs) today face a perfect storm of challenges. As subscriber expectations for seamless connectivity grow, so does the complexity of delivering reliable service while staying compliant with funding program requirements.
 

The stakes are high: Failing to meet performance standards can jeopardize funding and erode subscriber trust. With increasing competition and bandwidth demand, BSPs must evolve quickly to maintain service quality and scale operations efficiently.

Why Measuring Broadband Service Quality Is Essential

Understanding the subscriber experience starts with measuring broadband service quality—and speed testing is a cornerstone of that effort.
 

Calix Speed and Performance Insights, a speed testing and reporting framework within Calix Cloud^®, gives BSPs the tools to centralize performance insights and streamline compliance reporting. These speed testing tools are integrated into Calix Service Cloud for subscriber experience management, Operations Cloud for network performance optimization, and Calix Field Service App for onsite service validation. Furthermore, speed testing tools are part of mobile apps CommandIQ^® and CommandWorx^TM (for small business) giving subscribers the power to ensure their service quality at anytime. These are all integrated on a single platform—the Calix Broadband Platform—enabling BSPs to streamline workflows leveraging automation and a centralized, reporting dashboard.
 

This simplifies operations, supports compliance for funding programs, and ensures the reliability of SmartLife™ Managed Services. Centralized speed test data and KPIs in Operations Cloud also enable faster network health assessments, proactive support, and more reliable broadband experiences.

A Global Performance Testing Network Built for Confidence

As part of Speed and Performance Insights and based on the Broadband Forum TR-143 standard, the cloud-based global performance testing network (virtual servers) enables BSPs to efficiently conduct performance testing to meet funding compliance requirements.
 

It supports Calix Unlimited Subscriber^TM systems and the Field Service App—plus 160 certified third-party gateways—with automated background testing, indoor/outdoor field testing, and FCC performance testing. Additionally, auto-scaling for dynamic testing reduces failures (due to server loads) auto selection of testing servers provides more automation to help optimize test results as well as improve ease of use for support and operations teams.
 

This flexible cloud-based network and automation simplifies testing operations for funding compliance—a key advantage for the 74 percent of federally funded U.S. BSPs that trust Calix.
 

“Before adopting Calix Speed and Performance Insights, we experienced significant challenges with our FCC performance testing,” said Josh Lien, director of operations at La Valle Telephone Cooperative and Richland-Grant Telephone Cooperative.

“With growing funding opportunities, bandwidth demand, and competition, we needed to rapidly enhance the reliability and scalability of our speed testing process. Leveraging Calix’s speed and performance testing capabilities to remain FCC compliant, we have significantly improved our pass rate and gained tremendous benefits from automating server selection to reduce failures and save time. We even use on-demand testing as our primary troubleshooting tool. Partnering with Calix has allowed our team to trust the test results, easily maintain compliance, and deliver incredible experiences to our subscribers.”

Performance Testing for BEAD Funding Compliance

With the Broadband Platform Speed and Performance Insights and BEAD-compliant systems, BSPs can build scalable, resilient, and secure networks at the lowest possible operational expense. Calix Cloud acts as a test controller—collecting, analyzing, and displaying test data as actionable insights to diagnose and improve the broadband experience. With deep experience in FCC funding compliance, Calix is well positioned to support BSPs as they begin performance testing and reporting for BEAD.