Calix Inc. (NYSE:CALX) says that Silver Star Telephone Co. has selected its EXA Powered Calix E7 Ethernet Services Access Platform (ESAP) for a pair of broadband stimulus projects, one in northern Wyoming and the other in southern Idaho. The two projects received a total of nearly $13.6 million in grants and matching private investments via the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
Silver Start will deploy the E7 ESAP, including the E7-20 multi-terabit ESAP and modular E7-2 ESAP, as well as the 700GE family of optical network terminals (ONTs) in both projects. The new infrastructure will support voice, IPTV, and data services of up to 1 Gbps, as well as transport services of 10 Gbps, to as many as 12,000 premises in the region.
"These projects fill a gap that had historically limited the broadband opportunities available to the citizens, businesses, and institutions on the Wyoming and Idaho border," said Ron McCue, COO of Silver Star. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect the region to the rest of Wyoming's fiber-optic network and increase the capacity, reliability, and speed with which we communicate. We have been searching for viable ways to close this gap for years, and the combination of these funds and the technology and expertise of our long-time partner Calix will allow us to bring our vision of broadband opportunity for this region to fruition."
Silver Star expects to deploy a combined total of 127 miles of fiber-optic cable for the two projects to connect as many as 10,200 households, 1900 businesses, and a variety of community anchor institutions.
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