Jade Communications Saves 45 Percent on Capital Expenditures with Calix

Calix, Inc. has announced Jade Communications saved nearly half of its initial fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network deployment budget—a quarter-of-a-million dollars—and continues to maximize operational efficiency with the Calix Intelligent Access EDGE.

By transitioning from previous hardware-centric solutions to AXOS® and the Services Management Connector (SMx), Jade can now turn up its own OLTs and activate ONTs remotely in seconds, slashing individual subscriber turn-up time from minutes to seconds.

Additionally, AXOS and SMx eliminate costly and time-consuming third-party turn-up services while virtually eliminating truck rolls for Jade’s ONT outages, which had been about one per week.

Additionally, the regional communications service provider (CSP) has reduced its integration timeline from months to weeks while reaping the benefits of simplifying its network operations with AXOS.

Along with the cost and efficiency improvements to service provisioning and subscriber turn-up, Jade (which operates in some of the harshest climate conditions in the U.S.) has maintained its network uptime thanks to the temperature hardened, always-on E7-2 Intelligent Modular System.

“Not only did we save $250,000 dollars from the get-go with Calix solutions, but we have been amazed by the results AXOS and SMx have generated,” said Josh Wehe, director of operations for Jade Communications. “I found SMx to be the easiest service provisioning program I have ever used, delivering rapid provisioning and easy troubleshooting. As a WISP, we knew we needed fiber to accomplish the bandwidth demands of our subscribers. After we completed our first fiber-to-the-home build to the oldest town in Colorado in 2016, we had more people call to say they wanted high-speed broadband service. Calix has provided the best access solutions that enable us to deliver services quickly and maintain our network efficiently. We can provision a new service in a matter of seconds, troubleshoot problems faster, and do more complicated tasks, such as building a network ring in minutes instead of hours. In the end, we can trust that the network will always be on since Calix deploys software updates every quarter, so the product improves continually.”

Jade serves rural southern Colorado, which features a climate that has tested the limits of network solutions, but with the Intelligent Access EDGE in place, the rural CSP did not receive a single trouble call for a fiber failure this past winter.

Previously, the network had failed at the same location nearly a dozen times over the course of several months, resulting in costly and time-consuming truck rolls. Jade has placed AXOS systems in cabinets and central offices, maintaining always-on connectivity thanks to reliable optics and flawless OLT performance.

This uninterrupted network connectivity enables Jade to deploy new, value-added services into subscribers’ homes—a major competitive differentiation point as it expands into new markets. The rural CSP is leveraging the Calix Revenue EDGE to deliver the ultimate subscriber experience, which includes advanced applications like managed network security over industry-best Wi-Fi 6 systems. Jade tailors this FTTH experience to individual subscribers using the network and behavioral analytics from EDGE Insights.

“Jade is exactly the kind of aggressive, forward-thinking service provider that thrives working with Calix, and that’s why they’re beating competitors multiple times their size,” said Skip Hirvela, vice president of sales for Calix. “The Jade team realized quickly that the Intelligent Access EDGE solution, powered by the AXOS platform, would increase network operations efficiency and drive massive resource savings—well past the initial deployment. We look forward to expanding this partnership as Jade grows and continues to push the ultimate subscriber experience with the Revenue EDGE into more communities in southern Colorado.”