UK's Cybermoor Networks taps Calix for rural GPON deployment

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) says that Cybermoor Networks of the UK has selected the Ethernet eXtensible Architecture (EXA) Powered E7 Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP) to help deliver broadband services to the residents and businesses of Alston Moor in Cumbria, UK, via GPON. The deployment will leverage local and Rural Development Programme for England funds.

The Cybermoor FTTH broadband project will use both the Calix E7 platform as the OLT and 716GE-I indoor optical network terminals (ONTs). The Cybermoor fiber network will initially cover the most populous parts of Alston Moor, starting with the center of Alston town, but will be extended to cover more remote areas as funding becomes available.

Daniel Heery, Cybermoor Project Manager said, “We believe that this network will be transformative to the community of Alston Moor, whose residents will be among the first in the country to become a UK Fibre Optic Community. A fiber network at the heart of the community will provide high-capacity connections to local residents and businesses and will help to attract people and businesses who want to live in a rural area and benefit from high-speed connections. With this powerful infrastructure, we will in fact be better served than many of the larger towns and cities of the country not only for today, but for some time to come.”

Andy Lockhart, senior vice president of international sales and marketing at Calix, said: “Few areas in the UK are more remote and rural than Cumbria, yet even fewer areas in the country will be as wired for the future as Alston Moor. We applaud the way that residents are taking their destiny into their own hands to meet the bandwidth needs of the community. The Cybermoor project is both visionary and innovative, and we are delighted to be able to bring our expertise and leadership in rural broadband implementations in other countries to help support this ambitious project.”

The Cybermoor fiber broadband project is one of the first projects in the UK to include self-funding as a key element in its strategy for next generation access. Cybermoor secured funding from the Rural Development Programme for England, a government program launched by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to support rural areas. The additional funding will be secured by a community share offer program aimed at attracting private investors across the UK.