SAN JOSE, Calif -- When BrightRidge Broadband set about building a nation-leading 10Gb fiber optic network, it began with a few simple mandates. The system must be redundant with multiple linkages to the internet backbone, robust and flexible.

Those principles have now been recognized by Calix Inc. which honored BrightRidge last week with its 2019 Calix Innovation Award in the category of Next Generation Networks. As an award winner, BrightRidge Chief Broadband Officer Stacy Evans was a featured presenter at the Calix ConneXions Innovation and Learning Conference.

“We wanted to design our system as future proof as possible, where we wouldn’t have to rebuild from scratch as technology improves and we can easily scale as our customer base grows,” Evans said. “With Calix providing its leading-edge technology, BrightRidge is looking beyond today to build a broadband network that meets the community needs in the future.”

The Calix Innovation Award recognizes customers who demonstrate outstanding creativity to deploy best-in-class services over the previous 12 months, according to the company. The award showcases innovation in the use of cloud and software platforms, systems, and services to transform business models, networks, and the subscriber experience.

Calix is the leading global provider of the cloud and software platforms, systems, and services required to deliver the unified access network and smart premises of tomorrow

“We are honored to be recognized as a Calix Innovation Award winner,” Evans said. “Early in our project, it became apparent that Calix was the ideal type of partner, and we look forward to continuing to work with them as we push to deliver services beyond our current 10Gb offerings.”

Other 2019 Calix Innovations in Next Generation Networks award winners in addition to BrightRidge Broadband include: 3 Rivers Communications, Cruzio, FTC, and Great Lakes Energy.

 “Calix ConneXions 2019 was a rousing success, once again living up to its reputation as the industry’s best innovation and learning conference,” said Michael Weening, executive vice president of field operations of Calix. “This year’s Calix Innovation Award winners are no exception, as they all made incredible contributions in advancing our industry. From the next generation network infrastructure to the advanced services and subscriber experience it enables them to provide, these technological leaders all set the pace for others to follow. Congratulations to all the winners, and we look forward to expanding our partnerships and building on their successes in the coming year and beyond.”