Calix, Inc. (NYSE:CALX) today announced the residential and farming villages of Overbury and Conderton on the Overbury Estate in the picturesque Cotswolds region are now receiving some of the best broadband speeds available in the United Kingdom, thanks to an innovative community fibre access project enabled by the Calix E7-2 Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP). Capable of delivering ultra-fast broadband speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (1 Gbps), the Overbury Estate network provides residents and businesses with access to a variety of advanced broadband services, from high-definition video content to bandwidth-intensive data and voice applications.

Situated in the heart of rural England, between Bristol and Birmingham near Cheltenham, the Overbury Estate is primarily a farming community with a vibrant mix of residential and business locations and a busy community life. Although broadband had been available in the community for over 10 years via a number of solutions, the emerging need for more advanced broadband applications encouraged the estate to install a fibre broadband solution that would meet the needs of the community both today and well into the future.

The new fibre infrastructure, operating over the Calix E7-2, provides ultra-fast advanced broadband services via fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology delivered to the residences and businesses of Overbury and Conderton, including farming and professional businesses and a wide range of local trades, crafts, and services established on the Estate. Community facilities are also set to benefit as the fibre network is rolled out to other local organizations, such as the village hall, church and school.

Penelope Bossom, whose family has owned and managed Overbury Estate for nearly 300 years, continues the family tradition of keeping the services infrastructure of the rural Estate on par with the services enjoyed by urban towns and cities. Just as Overbury was one of the first rural communities to have running water, electricity, and telephony as these services became available in the past, it now has a communications infrastructure that, despite its rural environment, is among the finest in the world.

“The Overbury Estate may be a small community, but we have a big vision. We aim to create a rural quality of life that is as well-resourced as urban living, but with all the advantages of landscape and environment, relaxed lifestyle, and close community ties,” says Bossom. “That includes high-quality broadband services that allow residents to live, work, and play as they want. The pilot has been very successful and we are now rolling out to all the houses on the Estate, plus a drop-in hub for villagers, local craftspeople and organizations to use for their business purposes. Eventually we will be able to extend the services to the other community facilities too.”