Calix E7 Selected for Two Broadband Stimulus Projects in North Dakota

January 26, 2011
Consolidated and MLGC to deploy advanced GPON and Active Ethernet broadband services to a dozen rural communities

PETALUMA, Calif., Jan 26, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Calix, Inc. (NYSE:CALX) today announced that Broadband Stimulus award winners Moore and Liberty, Griggs County Telephone Company (MLGC) and Consolidated Telecom (Consolidated) have each selected the Calix E7 Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP) for their respective "Fiber Forward" initiatives. Capable of delivering broadband speeds of up to one gigabit per second (Gbps), gigabit passive optical network (GPON) and Active Ethernet technologies will be leveraged in these projects to bring advanced digital video services, extremely fast data services, and high-quality voice services to the residents, businesses and community institutions of the twelve targeted communities. The awards together represent more than $37.5 million in grants, loans and private investments to be used for plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access equipment, and will bring advanced broadband services to these "unserved" and "underserved" communities. Regional engineering, surveying, planning, and asset development firm Kadrmas, Lee,and Jackson (KLJ) has played a key role in bringing these two projects to fruition, from providing assistance in the development of their Stimulus applications to continued network implementation support. With today's announcement, Calix has now been selected for a combined total of seven Broadband Stimulus projects throughout the State of North Dakota that have been awarded more than $74.7 million in grants, loans and private investments.

Serving eastern areas of the state, MLGC will deploy the Calix E7 ESAP and Calix 720GX/GE and 760GX families of ONTs to deliver affordable, reliable and extremely fast broadband access to approximately 2,200 residents, businesses and community institutions in and around Enderlin, Sharon, Glenfield, Sheldon, Finley, McHenry and the rural areas of Cooperstown, and Binford, North Dakota. MLGC received $22.1 million in overall funds, including a $16.6 million grant and a $5.5 million loan for plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access equipment.

"Our rural subscribers will now enjoy the benefits of a world class fiber network infrastructure, greatly expanding the advanced broadband services available to our communities today," said Tyler Kilde, general manager of MLGC. "We are looking at this project as a strategic investment in the future of our communities, stimulating economic development allowing the residents and businesses of our region to keep pace with the demands of a global economy for years to come. This project is of critical importance to our region, and partnering with a company with the strong track record of Calix gives us confidence that we will deliver new opportunity to the deserving subscribers in these communities."

Consolidated's project will benefit communities on the other side of the state, delivering advanced broadband services to rural areas in southwestern North Dakota. Consolidated plans to deploy the Calix E7 ESAP along with Calix's 700GX/GE family of ONTs to bring voice, video and data services to more than 1,400 households in rural Dickinson, Gladstone, Lefor and New Hradec that currently have extremely limited Internet access. Consolidated was awarded more than $15.4 million in total funding for the project, which includes a $5.8 million grant, a matching $5.8 million loan and private investments of $3.8 million for plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access equipment.

"The Broadband Stimulus award is a significant win for these communities in our region, and we're extremely proud to be able to bring our rural customers among the best, most advanced broadband services anywhere," said Paul Schuetzler, CEO, Consolidated. "Broadband access has become an essential part of the infrastructure needed to support economic development and the oil, agriculture and ranching industries that are so vital to this region. With Calix's technology, we'll be able to support the broadband needs of our customers today and well into the future, which means the investments we're making now will provide long-term benefits to our region."

"We would like to congratulate MLGC and Consolidated, and the rural residents of their respective serving areas, for their Stimulus awards and the enormous opportunity that these awards provide," said John Colvin, vice president of field operations at Calix. "Projects like these are transformative to the residents and businesses of the communities they serve, providing the advantages that are commensurate with having one of the most advanced communications infrastructures in the world at their disposal. It's an honor to have been chosen to support and enable their initiatives, and to be able to further extend advanced broadband access throughout that State of North Dakota."

With today's announcement, aggregate Calix vendor selections by Broadband Stimulus winners for "last mile" and "middle mile" awards has now reached 25 different projects representing approximately $391 million in Stimulus-related grants, loans, and private investment for plant engineering, materials, labor, and other costs, including access equipment. A major part of the Calix Unified Access portfolio, Calix fiber access solutions are the most widely deployed in North America as measured by both revenue and optical line terminal ports (Infonetics, Q3 2010).

About Calix

Calix is a leading North American provider of broadband communications access systems and software for fiber- and copper-based network architectures that enable communications service providers to connect to their residential and business subscribers. Calix has shipped over seven million ports of its Unified Access Infrastructure portfolio to more than 600 North American and international customers, whose networks serve over 40 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 report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 25, 2010, filed with the SEC on October 22, 2010, available at http://www.sec.gov.