SCTelcom Earns 79 Net Promoter Score by Transforming Every Aspect of Rural Living With Calix SmartLife Managed Services

Evolving an 18-year partnership with Calix, SCTelcom leverages the latest managed service offerings for the Calix Broadband Platform to completely transform rural life in Kansas and Oklahoma for students, teachers, parents, community organizers, and small business owners, earning a Net Promoter Score of 79 and a 3 percent ARPU lift in the past six months alone

Today, Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) announced that, in only six months, SCTelcom enhanced subscriber loyalty and revenue by extending exceptional broadband experiences to all facets of rural life with SmartLife™ managed services and the Calix Broadband Platform.

Broadband service providers (BSPs) leverage the singular Calix Platform and integrated SmartLife managed services to connect homes (SmartHome™), parks, recreational fields, festivals, government services (SmartTown™), and local small businesses (SmartBiz™). Even small BSP teams can leverage SmartLife to deliver secure and reliable broadband everywhere their subscribers go in town. A comprehensive portfolio of managed services and the Calix Platform’s cloud capabilities enable BSPs to easily grow their offerings, delivering unrivaled subscriber experiences that win market share.

“We are proud to deliver exceptional broadband experiences that extend to every corner of the rural communities we have served for over 70 years,” said Carla Shearer, chief executive officer and general manager at SCTelcom. “Outdoor wireless connectivity increased 75 percent in the first town where we deployed SmartTown—Attica, Kansas. This transformative shift fundamentally alters residents’ day-to-day lives. We established a SmartTown community for educators, reaching hundreds of teachers across our coverage area to ensure secure and reliable connectivity during school evacuations in rural towns with limited cell coverage. We are deeply committed to continue reshaping rural connectivity across our network footprint, proving that no region is too remote for high-quality, reliable broadband services. Our almost two-decade-long collaboration with Calix has been instrumental in this community transformation.”

Utilizing the Calix Platform and SmartLife managed services, SCTelcom is:

• Earning exceptional NPS and CSAT with unmatched subscriber experiences. SCTelcom has a longstanding commitment to innovating for the customer experience. In 2021, they were awarded a Calix Innovations Award for leadership in customer support practices. Operating in communities with limited cell service, the telephone cooperative significantly expanded their offerings with managed services to address digital equity challenges and strengthen community ties. Throughout this growth, they maintained a CSAT in the 90s and now boast an overall Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS®) of 79—more than double the industry average. Among subscribers utilizing Calix Wi-Fi systems and SCTelcom’s personalized mobile app, their NPS soared to 88.
• Transforming every part of rural life for citizens while growing ARPU. Since SCTelcom deployed SmartTown and added community-wide Wi-Fi to their residential offerings, they have grown average revenue per user (ARPU) by 3 percent. The SCTelcom SmartTown network delivers secure connectivity to local events like baseball tournaments and rodeos, streamlining digital ticketing for festivals and enabling vendors and food trucks to conduct digital transactions. Out-of-town family members can stream local high school sports to support their favorite teams, and teachers can rely on a secure, uninterrupted connection for emergency communications.
• Stimulating economic activity by enabling small business success. SCTelcom launched SmartBiz in 2023 to deliver purpose-built broadband solutions for small business owners. In six months, the service has quickly gained popularity for its ease of use, allowing business owners to control their secure networks for point-of-sale systems, staff, and customers. In January, SCTelcom included SmartBiz in new business plans aimed at supporting small business subscribers in growing their businesses.

The SCTelcom team leverages ready-made, customizable marketing assets in the Calix Market Activation program to promote the value of managed services to their subscribers. The cooperative utilizes the award-winning Gerry Dee commercial campaign videos from Calix to engage subscribers with family-friendly humor on serious topics like cybersecurity. Putting their own spin on these assets, SCTelcom shares these videos on social media along with the number of digital threats they block for subscribers each month, often totaling 20,000 or more.

“Leveraging our investment in the Calix Platform and SmartLife managed services, we are not only meeting the current needs of our communities but also shaping their digital future,” said Shearer. “We take pride in the value we provide our subscribers and—with guidance from Calix—continue to find engaging and exciting ways to communicate that value.”

SCTelcom engaged the Calix Smart Start for Managed Services program to speed up time to market for SmartTown and SmartBiz. They collaborated with Calix customer success managers (CSMs) on in-person events, bootcamps, and multichannel campaigns for successful onboarding. Post-launch, SCTelcom worked with business intelligence analysts from Calix Business Insights Services to analyze subscriber feedback, developing strategies to further refine services to enhance customer satisfaction.

“For almost 25 years, the Calix team has lived our values, helping our customers transform rural communities,” said Michael Weening, president and chief executive officer at Calix. “We are proud to support SCTelcom’s mission to democratize broadband services to make a multi-generational impact in Kansas and Oklahoma. Less than two years after we launched SmartTown, they leveraged it to change how their subscribers work, learn, and connect with their families. A little over a year since we released SmartBiz, they are already helping local small businesses grow and prosper across their communities. Carla and her team exemplify what can be achieved with the power of the Calix Platform—transforming rural life while lowering operating costs and earning industry-beating NPS.”

Watch the webinar replay, “How Do Top Service Providers Use Community Wi-Fi to Drive Revenue?” to learn how SCTelcom is utilizing SmartLife managed services to enhance life in their communities.

About Calix

Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX)—Calix is a cloud and appliance-based platform and managed services company. Broadband service providers leverage the Calix broadband platform, cloud, and managed services to simplify operations, engagement, and service; innovate for their consumer, business, and municipal subscribers; and grow their business and the communities they serve.

Our end-to-end platform and managed services democratize the use of data, enabling our customers of any size to operate efficiently, acquire subscribers, and deliver exceptional experiences. Calix is dedicated to driving continuous improvement in partnership with our growing ecosystem to support the transformation of our customers and their communities.

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 us as of the date of this release, and we 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®, NPS®, NPS Prism®, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter Score℠ and Net Promoter System℠ are service marks of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.

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