Calix Conducts Twenty Millionth FCC Broadband Performance Test With the Most Scalable, Trustworthy, and Simple Solution for Compliance in the US

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced that it has completed more than 20 million tests—one million for speed—with its comprehensive Broadband Performance Testing solution, comprised of Calix Support Cloud (CSC), GigaSpire BLAST and GigaCenter systems, and the Broadband Performance Testing Service. This combination of offerings is the most scalable in the industry, enabling broadband service providers (BSPs) to efficiently identify, analyze, and rectify network issues that impact broadband performance testing, allowing their teams to remain compliant with intricate Federal Communications Commission (FCC) testing requirements.

United States federal funding for broadband deployment projects, which reached more than $4.5 billion in 2020, requires compliance with rigorous speed and latency performance standards set out by the FCC. Applicants must successfully complete this testing or risk losing up to 25 percent of their monthly funding from the program. To make its testing process painless and efficient, Wisconsin-based Wittenberg Telephone Company / Cirrinity engaged closely with the Calix Professional Services team. Calix helped Wittenberg uncover provisioning issues and test-server problems—and ended up improving broadband performance tests by up to 20 percent.

“Through the Calix Performance Testing Service, we were able to cut through the noise of hundreds of thousands of tests and pinpoint the issues that were dragging down our test results, and we immediately saw a huge improvement,” said Scott Nyman, general manager and CEO, Wittenberg Telephone Company. “Moreover, the detailed, customized reporting and analysis provided by Calix has allowed us to proactively resolve issues with our broadband subscribers. The experience with Calix has been overwhelmingly positive—the FCC testing process is quite complex and time-consuming, and Calix has been with us every step of the way to ensure that we are positioned to meet our FCC obligations and deliver the performance that our subscribers expect.”

The broadband performance testing solution from Calix includes:

• Calix Support Cloud: This highly scalable cloud-based test controller eliminates the complexities of setting up tests and collecting and providing the results per FCC requirements.
• GigaSpire BLAST Systems: In addition to powering the Ultimate Wi-Fi 6 experience for subscribers, GigaSpire BLAST systems double as an unobtrusive test client for FCC broadband testing applications, enabling BSPs to automatically and transparently perform the required speed and latency tests needed for FCC reporting purposes.
• Broadband Performance Testing Service: This Calix professional service is designed to help BSPs establish a workable broadband testing framework. Calix experts consult with BSP operations teams to set up testing endpoints, train them on CSC and GigaSpire BLAST test clients, and help them run the required pre-tests. A key element of the service, Calix generates actionable reports every month and reviews the analysis with the service provider to identify and resolve issues that could impact overall results. Finally, Calix regularly shares best practices through exclusive webinars covering the latest industry developments on testing and the regulatory process.

Van Buren Telephone Company, which serves the southeast Iowa region, turned to Calix when its previous performance testing solution did not meet expectations.