The second fiber migration: why germany's FTTH pioneers are moving to XGS-PON. Contributed article. Regional operator htp built fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks a decade before they became mainstream. Today, it is showing the market how early builders modernize for the future. The operators who moved first on fiber are now facing a second strategic decision. Speaking at the BREKO Arbeitstag in a joint session with Udo Abt, senior consultant of sales engineering at Calix, Jochen Krauss, head of network planning at Hannover-based regional operator htp, explained how an early FTTH pioneer is evolving its network for the next decade. htp began deploying fiber to the home more than ten years ago and today serves 123.400 residential and 9.710 business customers. Sixty-three percent of its connections are now activated fiber-to-the-home lines, a penetration level most of the German market is still working toward. Originally built on point-to-point Ethernet, the network is now evolving. Today, htp is deploying native XGS-PON for all new construction and network densification. A business case with real numbers Before committing, htp ran a full total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis spanning network build and operations. The results showed a cost reduction of more than 40 percent. According to Krauss, realized savings have exceeded the model. The drivers are structural. Serving 2,000 subscribers on point-to-point requires around 32 rack units of central office equipment. XGS-PON requires roughly one rack unit. Power consumption per subscriber is significantly lower. Distributed splitters also eliminate many powered and cooled street cabinets, allowing the field network to run almost entirely passive. Service activation no longer requires technicians at both ends of the line. Why native XGS-PON htp evaluated GPON and Combo-PON alternatives before committing to native XGS-PON, in what Abt described on stage as "a battle of the best arguments between the two engineering teams." Symmetric 10 Gbps capacity supports 1:64 split ratios without compromising the subscriber experience. ONT prices for XGS-PON also fell faster than any forecast predicted, closing the historic cost gap with GPON. The choice also secures the road ahead: The step to 50G PON can run in parallel on the same infrastructure when business services and backhaul demand it. Just as important were htp's procurement requirements: no lock-in on optical components, open management interfaces, and hardware available for hardened outdoor deployment. Calix met all of them. Simplicity as strategy For a 250-person operator, operational simplicity determines technology choices. Because the Calix One(TM) platform abstracts the access technology, htp's team configures PON services in the same familiar terms as Ethernet, and the engineer who introduced the platform completed his first test installation within just one week. Workflows are learned once; technology generations change underneath them. As Abt put it, "That is what consumers already expect from their smartphones, where 4G became 5G without anyone relearning the device." The same principle extends forward. htp's path to 50G PON, network slicing, and AI-supported predictive operations runs on the software foundation already integrated and already mastered. A planned evolution, not a crisis htp will continue operating its point-to-point base while migrating it to PON in a structured, multi-year program aligned with equipment lifecycles. New builds are XGS-PON by default. As Krauss observed, "Technology generations turning over is simply the nature of infrastructure, and the advantage belongs to operators who plan the transition rather than react to it." For the many European operators now approaching the ten-year mark on their first fiber deployments, the message from the BREKO stage was clear: The second migration is coming for everyone. htp is proof it can arrive as a plan. More on this topic:

Consolidated Business Services (CBS), a shared services organisation supporting eight rural broadband cooperatives in Oregon, has selected Calix's AI-native platform to enhance its operations across residential, business, and multi-dwelling unit properties. CBS will deploy Calix One and Calix Agent Workforce Cloud to scale marketing, support, and operations teams whilst reducing costs. The eight member cooperatives include DirectLink, Stayton Cooperative Telephone Company, and Gervais Telephone Company, among others. CBS has worked with Calix for 10 years, with DirectLink previously exceeding business subscriber adoption expectations by 64%. The platform will enable CBS members to automate tasks, personalise subscriber engagement, and proactively address service issues. CBS plans to leverage agentic AI capabilities to improve subscriber acquisition, reduce churn, and optimise network performance across their rural communities.

Jul 15, 2026 Tombigbee invests in secure agentic workflows on Calix One so teams can personalize engagement at scale and do even greater good. Tombigbee is creating secure agentic workflows to build on the extraordinary member loyalty reflected in their 92 NPS - earned by providing experiences like SmartTown for first responders, Friday Night Fiber for high school football stadiums, and Bark digital safety for children and families SAN JOSE, Calif. - July 15, 2026 - Today, Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) announced that Tombigbee Fiber, LLCopens in a new tab (Tombigbee) is leveraging their investment in the AI-native Calix One(TM) platform to begin building secure agentic workflows with Calix Agent Workforce(TM) Cloud. These collaborative AI workflows will act as a force multiplier for an experience-led growth model that has delivered exceptional results over a seven-year partnership with Calix - during which Tombigbee achieved a Net Promoter Score(SM)(NPS(R) of 92 and positive cash flow in just two years. Working hand in hand with award-winning Calix Success(TM) and building on 26 years of service provider workflow expertise embedded in the Calix One platform - which processes more than a petabyte of data daily and executes over 4.3 billion workflows and operations annually - Tombigbee has moved quickly to lay a strong foundation for operationalizing secure agentic AI. Successful early results across marketing, customer support, and network operations have demonstrated value in accelerated knowledge sharing and reducing operational complexity. As they advance, their secure agentic workflows will help Tombigbee turn insights into action even faster - providing their team with expert knowledge, strategic guidance, and contextual intelligence so they can deepen member engagement and scale highly personalized outreach. Scott Hendrix, chief executive officer at Tombigbee Fiber and Tombigbee Electric Power Association, said: "While we are still in the early stages of our Agent Workforce Cloud journey, we are already seeing meaningful value from its ability to put expertise at every employee's fingertips. It is helping our teams learn faster, better understand complex information, and navigate subscriber interactions with greater confidence. We have been impressed by how quickly our employees have embraced agentic AI, and we are excited about the role this transformative technology can play in advancing our mission." With Agent Workforce Cloud, Tombigbee is building on their success, leveraging Calix Engagement Cloud and Business Insights to identify opportunities for delivering meaningful experiences that reflect member needs. Founded in 2019 to bring fiber connectivity to rural Mississippi, Tombigbee partnered with Calix to rapidly adopt, deploy, and manage world-class experiences that radically improve life for their communities. Their initiatives include: * Helping save lives with SmartTown(R) by delivering free, secure Wi-Fi for first responders - including police, emergency medical services, firefighters, and rural healthcare providers - in areas with limited cellular coverage. * Transforming community spaces with free, public Wi-Fi - expanding SmartTown to parks, downtown districts, libraries, and community centers while enabling secure roaming beyond the home. * Connecting nine high school football stadiums through the "Friday Night Fiber" initiative, bringing public SmartTown Wi-Fi to the cultural heart of rural Mississippi. * Protecting children and families on social media and online with Bark digital safety monitoring, advanced home cybersecurity, and parental controls included for every residential subscriber via SmartHome(TM). Because every SmartLife(TM) managed service runs on Calix One, Tombigbee can rapidly launch new services, manage them through a single operating model, and continually innovate without adding operational complexity. This platform approach enables the provider to reduce operational costs, grow member loyalty, and reinvest profits in the communities they serve. Hendrix added: "We built Tombigbee Fiber because rural Mississippi communities deserve the same opportunities, protection, and connected experiences available anywhere else. Over the last several years, we've learned that, when we invest in experiences that solve real problems, our subscribers respond and our business grows stronger. Calix has helped us turn that belief into action, and that's why we trust them to be our innovation engine." Michael Weening, president and chief executive officer at Calix, said: "As Scott Hendrix has said, doing good for people is just the right thing to do. Agentic AI represents a massive opportunity for them to augment the expertise of their teams and amplify their impact, so they can continue to reinvest in their communities. With the secure, AI-native capabilities of the Calix One platform, Tombigbee can now dramatically accelerate personalized subscriber experiences at scale - while reducing operational complexity and scaling the expertise of their team. That is how to compete to win while growing a brand that subscribers love, as evidenced by their outstanding 92 NPS. We are honored to support their success." Calix customers can access the Calix AI Leadership Playbookopens in a new tab, explore the award-winning "AI Academy" in Calix University, or register for upcoming Calix Customer Success webinars. About Calix Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) is an AI platform company that enables service providers to transform their operations and accelerate delivery of differentiated experiences - so they can compete and win in the markets and communities they serve. Through the AI-native Calix One platform, service providers can securely and privately activate agentic-AI alongside their human teams to acquire new subscribers, grow existing subscriber revenue, and build loyalty across residential, business, municipal, and MDU markets. More than 1,200 customers of all sizes leverage the Calix One platform, which has evolved over 15 years at an investment of more than $2 billion. Calix innovation cycles are underpinned by a strong financial balance sheet and a people-first culture that routinely earns broad industry recognition - winning 81 culture and innovation awards since 2025 alone, as well as Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For(R) in 2026. 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 Calix as of the date of this release, and Calix 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. Calix and the Calix logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Calix and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Calix's trademarks can be found at https://www.calix.com/legal/trademarks.html. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Net Promoter(R), NPS(R), NPS Prism(R), and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter Score(SM) and Net Promoter System(SM) are service marks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.