WCTA and Breda move Fiber Forward bringing advanced broadband services to Iowa and Minnesota
PETALUMA, CA―August 22, 2011―Calix, Inc. (NYSE:CALX, news, filings) today announced that two Iowa Broadband Stimulus award winners – Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association (WCTA) and Breda Telephone Corporation (DBA Western Iowa Networks) (Breda) – have each selected the Calix Unified Access portfolio to bring advanced broadband services to rural subscribers in Iowa and Minnesota. Both WCTA and Breda are moving Fiber Forward in their networks, pulling fiber deep into rural communities to bring extremely fast broadband services and new opportunities to their subscribers. In aggregate, these awards amount to nearly $24.9 million in overall funds, which include plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access equipment. The awards to WCTA and Breda bring the total number of publicly announced Calix awarded Broadband Stimulus projects in the states of Iowa and Minnesota to eleven projects, totaling approximately $85 million in overall funds.
WCTA will use its $19.6 million award, which consists of a $9.8 million grant and a $9.8 million loan, of which only a portion is for access equipment, to offer advanced broadband services, including Internet protocol television (IPTV) services, ultra high-speed data services, and reliable voice services to 21 communities in six counties across northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. WCTA will leverage two Calix Ethernet Extensible Architecture (EXA) Powered platforms – the C7 Multiservice Access Platform (MSAP) and the modular E7-2 Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP) – as well as the 700GE family of optical network terminals (ONTs) and Calix Management System (CMS) to deliver a world-class broadband infrastructure to subscribers. Very high-speed digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) and gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technologies will be leveraged to deliver services directly to subscribers, and 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GE) transport technology will interconnect this network with other WCTA facilities.
“Advanced broadband services are critical to the quality of life and economic development of the rural communities that we serve,” said Terry Wegener, General Manager at WCTA. “Our Fiber Forward initiatives will allow us to bring a world-class broadband infrastructure to parts of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota that, in some cases, only have access to dial-up. Calix is helping us to bring new opportunities to our rural subscribers, and we expect these projects to be truly transformative to the 21 communities serviced by this initiative.”
Breda will use its $5.2 million award, which consists of a $1.8 million grant, a $784 thousand loan, and $2.6 million in matching private investment, of which only a portion is for access equipment, to provide advanced high-speed broadband to underserved areas of its incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) territory. Breda is also moving Fiber Forward, pulling fiber all the way to the premises across all customers in its Breda and Lidderdale exchanges to deliver advanced IPTV, ultra high-speed data services capable of delivering up to 1 gigabit per second to the premises, and reliable voice services. The EXA Powered C7 MSAP will leverage both GPON and 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GE) transport technologies to deliver advanced broadband services to the region.
“We are excited for the opportunity that this Stimulus award provides us to bring advanced broadband services to portions of our network that have previously been underserved,” said Chuck Deisbeck, CEO at Breda. “These new services will provide a host of new opportunities to the citizens of western Iowa. We see Calix as the leader in enabling advanced broadband services in rural areas, and with their help our subscribers will soon benefit from one of the nation’s most advanced broadband infrastructures.”
“We would like to congratulate both WCTA and Breda, as well as the other Iowa and Minnesota Broadband Stimulus winners who have chosen the Calix Unified Access portfolio, on their bold aspirations to bring advanced broadband services to some of the country’s most deserving rural communities,” said John Colvin, Vice President of Field Operations at Calix. “Calix is proud to be a key partner to these service providers in bringing the opportunity for advanced broadband services to tens of thousands of Iowans and Minnesotans, and we look forward to bringing each of these critical projects to fruition.”
With today’s announcement, aggregate Calix vendor selections by Broadband Stimulus winners for “last mile” and “middle mile” awards have now reached 65 different projects representing approximately $1.3 billion in Stimulus-related grants, loans, and private investment for plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access equipment.
About Calix
Calix (NYSE: CALX) is a global leader in access innovation. Its Unified Access portfolio of broadband communications access systems and software enable communications service providers worldwide to be the broadband provider of choice to their subscribers. For more information, visit the Calix website at www.calix.com.
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 report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 25, 2011, filed with the SEC on July 22, 2011, available at http://www.sec.gov.
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