When Emergencies Strike Local Broadband Providers Deliver a Communications Lifeline for Their Communities With Calix SmartTown

Calix customers continue to step up for their communities, delivering transformative value with SmartTown and the Calix Platform. Tombigbee Fiber expands secure connectivity to 80 new public spaces in Mississippi, and MGW enhances disaster recovery in Virginia for communities hit hard by hurricanes.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) recognizes local broadband experience providers (BXPs) for leveraging Calix SmartTown® and the Calix Broadband Platform to deliver critical connectivity to communities, subscribers, and first responders. Increasingly, Calix customers are transforming into BXPs—service providers that have grown and evolved beyond the basic utility mindset to meet every broadband need in their communities. By doing so, BXPs increase their ability to respond swiftly when natural disasters and emergencies occur. At the same time, they are proving that connectivity is not just about technology—it is about people, safety, and growing stronger, resilient communities.

“From the beginning, our vision for Tombigbee Fiber has been to set a new standard for broadband excellence right here in northern Mississippi,” said Scott Hendrix, chief executive officer of Tombigbee Fiber and Tombigbee Electric Power Association (TEPA). “SmartTown has been instrumental in turning that vision into reality—elevating connectivity across our communities while enhancing education, job opportunities, and public safety. When first responders need a reliable, high-speed connection in a critical moment, we deliver.”

Calix customers continue to deliver significant value to their subscribers and communities with SmartTown and the unmatched efficiency of the Calix Platform. In Mississippi, Tombigbee is expanding free, community Wi-Fi to 80 volunteer fire departments, community centers, libraries, and parks—including 15 new locations in Tupelo. Tombigbee plans to complete the expansion in only three months thanks to support from the Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) grant. This grant focuses on connecting unserved and underserved areas while promoting economic development, education, and telemedicine.

In Virginia, MGW is securely connecting parks, fields, city centers, and side streets with SmartTown, improving how residents work, play, learn, and communicate. Following successful deployments in towns like Draper and Pulaski, MGW leveraged their existing network to quickly deploy outdoor Wi-Fi after Hurricane Helene, ensuring a swift and effective disaster response. Looking ahead, MGW plans to expand SmartTown to eight more towns in 2025, including Deerfield and Staunton.

Calix updates its platform on a consistent 90-day cadence, enabling customers who deploy SmartTown to continue delivering reliable, secure connectivity while growing long-term value for their communities. The latest enhancements include pre-provisioning for Calix GigaSpires® and GigaPros® in Calix Cloud®, allowing field technicians to quickly deploy SmartTown across more locations without on-site provisioning—streamlining installations even in disaster recovery scenarios.

“In the wake of a disaster or emergency, the brand that earns loyalty is the one that steps up to support the community,” said Michael Weening, president and chief executive officer at Calix. “To make this possible, Calix SmartTown simplifies access to secure community Wi-Fi for residents, businesses, and first responders, providing a crucial communications lifeline. Our platform enables a BXP to turn on these capabilities for no additional cost and expand coverage with our world-class outdoor GigaSpire lineup, reaching up to a mile and operating under extreme conditions. This makes an investment in an additional fixed wireless network redundant. If a BXP does this right, they support the community, live their values, build an unassailable local brand, and increase ARPU while reducing churn by making outdoor living and working part of every broadband package. The community wins, and the BXP’s investors and members win when the brand becomes synonymous with the community.”

Discover how SmartTown and the Calix Platform enable BSPs to keep local communities strong, resilient, and connected.

About Calix

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX)—Calix is a platform, cloud, and managed services company. Broadband service providers leverage Calix’s broadband platform, cloud, and managed services to simplify their operations, subscriber engagement, and services; innovate for their consumer, business, and municipal subscribers; and grow their value for members, investors, and the communities they serve.

Our end-to-end platform and managed services democratize the use of data—enabling our customers of any size to operate efficiently, acquire subscribers, and deliver exceptional experiences. Calix is dedicated to driving continuous improvement in partnership with our growing ecosystem to support the transformation of our customers and their communities.

This press release contains 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.

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Source: Calix, Inc.