Paul Bunyan Communications Selects Calix GigaCenter for GigaZone Project

PETALUMA, CA - Paul Bunyan Communications has selected the newly introduced Calix 844G GigaCenters for its ambitious GigaZone Project. A long-time Calix customer with an expansive 5000 square-mile fiber network built on Calix E-Series platforms, Paul Bunyan Communications will be offering gigabit services to its subscribers in northern Minnesota's Beltrami, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching and St. Louis Counties beginning in early 2015. The GigaZone will leverage the 844G GigaCenters deployed in subscribers' homes via direct fiber connections to offer Internet speeds of up to one gigabit per second (Gbps) as well as PBTV Fusion television and GigaZone voice services with unlimited long distance, and will also use this same premises service delivery platform to provide Wi-Fi coverage throughout the home bringing advanced in-home wireless performance to GigaZone subscribers.

"For 63 years, Paul Bunyan Communications has always been focused on one mission — providing the latest technologies and service offerings to our cooperative members independent of location or size," said Gary Johnson, Paul Bunyan Communications CEO and general manager. "The GigaZone Project is the next big step in this pursuit, bringing to our members a powerful gigabit services experience what will make use of world-leading wireless and wireline technologies. The 844G GigaCenters from Calix will be key to this project's success, allowing us establish a managed presence in the home from which to leverage advanced Wi-Fi capabilities to get our GigaZone services into the hands of our members faster, more conveniently, and less expensively."

Connected Gigabit Lifestyle
Paul Bunyan Communications GigaZone subscribers will be on the fast track to enjoy a new connected gigabit lifestyle enabled by the GigaCenters, which deliver over GPON today and point-to-point gigabit Ethernet (GE) in the future, one Gbps symmetrical wireline services and blazing fast wireless speeds to all Wi-Fi enabled devices in the home via the latest 802.11ac "wave 2" Wi-Fi technology with 4x4 Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) technologies. This lifestyle will also include the freedom for PBTV Fusion services to be deployed wirelessly throughout each GigaZone home, eliminating the majority of in-home wiring to set-top boxes and providing subscribers the freedom to watch even high-definition video wirelessly virtually anywhere in the home. Advanced Wi-Fi also means faster PBTV service deployments, lower operational and capital costs, and most importantly happier subscribers.

"Since 2004, Paul Bunyan Communications and Calix have worked together to systematically lay the foundations for this world-class fiber network in northern Minnesota," said John Colvin, senior vice president of North American sales at Calix. "As one of the early adopters of fiber technologies, it is fitting that Paul Bunyan Communications would once again be a leader in their community and in the industry by establishing the GigaZone, one of the largest gigabit networks in the United States. We are excited to announce that the new Calix 844G GigaCenter provides a powerful managed presence in the GigaZone home and an enhanced subscriber experience through the enablement of new cloud applications and industry-leading carrier class Wi-Fi performance to complement the fastest residential broadband speeds in America."