Calix sees part of $37.2M in broadband stimulus-related contracts in West

Fiber vendor Calix (NYSE: CALX [1])--which finally went public in March in an IPO that raised a quick $82.3 million--has scored a trio of wins funded by the Broadband Initiative Program. It was selected to help deliver broadband services to underserved and unserved communities across North Dakota and Montana, including both GPON and AE technologies, capable of broadband speeds up to one gigabit per second (Gbps) and delivering advanced services like IPTV.

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, one opf the companies that has chose to work with Calix.

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.

Among the contracts:

Reservation Telephone Cooperative--A $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 Powered C7 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--Will use its $6 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 Powered E7 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 Powered E7 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.

For more:
- see this release [2]