CityFibre and Calix Disrupt UK Broadband Market by Becoming the First in Europe to Announce NG-PON2 Plans

Innovative full fiber wholesaler CityFibre turbo-charges the UK’s most advanced broadband network with AXOS, races past competition, and reinforces the Calix everyPON strategy


SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced that CityFibre, the UK’s leading alternative provider of wholesale full fiber infrastructure, is now benefiting from market-leading network and service performance results across its citywide full fiber network rollouts. Just over a year since the original partnership announcement, Calix AXOS® is now powering live gigabit speed services for CityFibre across seven cities, with 19 more to come. The 26 UK cities named so far represent the first 2 million homes of the company’s overall target to serve over 5 million homes by 2025. Through its technology partnership with Calix and a laser focus on continuous improvement, CityFibre is achieving exceptional service delivery, end-customer satisfaction, network reliability, and service uptime results across its FTTP networks.

As well as providing significant and tangible benefits for its partners, investment from a new generation of competitive infrastructure builders such as CityFibre has galvanized the UK market. Previously in this sector, service performance issues, low bandwidth consumer services, and high prices had become the norm. 

CityFibre’s partnership with Calix includes the strategic introduction of NG-PON2 to its existing GPON architecture. Technology trials that have taken place so far provide a further proof point for the Calix everyPON strategy, which enables communications service providers (CSPs) to choose the network technology that is right for them at any time.

“Calix delivers both a best in class platform and a strategic approach that have been instrumental in helping us build a network that will scale and increase the performance advantage we have built,” said David Tomalin, group chief technology officer for CityFibre. “Our service provider partners are now benefiting from access to the next generation wholesale network, allowing them to differentiate on speed, reliability, and service quality in a highly competitive retail market. Importantly, due to the high capacity and future scalability of our network, this competitive advantage will continue to grow—even as subscriber demands increase.”

CityFibre is the UK’s only advanced-intelligence, wholesale infrastructure company with a network deployment strategy capable of serving all verticals, including consumer, public sector, enterprise, and mobile, over the same ‘well planned’ full fibre, citywide networks. As CityFibre continues to deploy and leverage the high-density E9-2 Intelligent Edge System, it will soon benefit from the multi-wavelength capability of NG-PON2, which enables multiple operators to deliver 10G services over a single fiber today and offers a route to providing affordable 100Gbps services in the near future.

“CityFibre is the exact kind of forward-thinking, innovator we work best with, and we are excited to expand this relationship as they continue to push broadband performance forward in the UK for the benefit of communities that have been chronically underserved by the incumbent provider,” said Michael Weening, executive VP of field operations for Calix. “We are growing our NG-PON2 customer base across the world and have established ourselves as the unquestioned industry leader in next generation networks. Our everyPON strategy reaffirms that when a service provider chooses AXOS, it is choosing a future proof platform. CityFibre has chosen GPON and will be adding the most advanced PON available, NG-PON2, with no change in systems, operating procedures, or the platform. Simply put, this is the last network they will ever build thanks to fiber, which is almost infinitely expandable with each generation of PON, and the world’s only software defined access platform—AXOS.”

For more information on AXOS NG-PON2 and other Calix 10G and beyond services, visit us online. Also click here for a live stream of ConneXions 2019, the industry’s premier innovation and learning conference.

About CityFibre

CityFibre is the UK’s leading alternative provider of wholesale full fibre infrastructure. With existing networks in more than 50 towns and cities, CityFibre provides wholesale connectivity to business and consumer service providers, local authorities and mobile operators.

Underpinned by a £2.5bn investment programme, CityFibre has network rollouts underway targeting at least 20% of the UK market by 2025. This will deliver a new generation of Gigabit-capable full fibre infrastructure to five million homes and businesses. A growing number of Gigabit City projects have been announced for full-city rollouts and CityFibre continues to prime its existing network assets for expansion.

CityFibre is based in London and is jointly controlled by Antin Infrastructure Partners and West Street Infrastructure Partners.

About Calix

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) – Innovative communications service providers rely on Calix platforms to help them master and monetize the complex infrastructure between their subscribers and the cloud. Calix is the leading global provider of the cloud and software platforms, systems, and services required to deliver the unified access network and smart premises of tomorrow. Our platforms and services help our customers build next generation networks by embracing a DevOps operating model, optimize the subscriber experience by leveraging big data analytics and turn the complexity of the smart home and business into new revenue streams.

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 Calix’s business. The reader is cautioned not to 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 quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov.

Press Inquiries:
Dale Legaspi
408-474-0056
dale.legaspi@calix.com