Insights from Calix ConneXions 2025: AI, Outdoor Wi-Fi, and the Evolving Broadband Experience

At this year’s Calix ConneXions conference, more than 3,000 attendees gathered to explore how broadband service providers (BSPs) can compete in an increasingly AI-driven, experience-focused market. The event, highlighting stories from Calix customers and including keynotes from Google and AI industry experts, centered on a clear message: broadband success will depend less on price and more on quality of experience.

AI as an Enabler, Not a Replacement
Calix devoted much of the conference to showcasing how it is embedding AI throughout its Calix Cloud platform; not to replace workers, but to help smaller providers operate at scale. Executives emphasized AI as a tool to “help teams be more successful,” and Calix reported investing over $100 million to make their systems AI-ready. The company’s approach isolates large language models within private clouds, supported by structured data and strict orchestration layers to ensure reliability, security, and trust and to minimize hallucinations.

The result is a suite of AI agents - focused on operations, marketing, service, and subscriber engagement - that automate targeted workflows such as Wi-Fi optimization and trouble ticket analysis. This approach, Calix argued, helps BSPs increase efficiency without compromising control or data privacy.

Outdoor Wi-Fi and the Lifestyle-Based Network
Another recurring theme was the rise of lifestyle-based solutions, especially outdoors and community Wi-Fi. Calix and its customers are reframing broadband marketing away from speeds and tiers, toward lifestyle experiences - whether that’s connecting a “SmartTown” during local events or extending coverage to backyards and farms. With hundreds of broadband providers already using Calix’s outdoor Wi-Fi solutions, this initiative represents both a new revenue stream and a way to strengthen customer relationships.

Customer Success Stories
Several broadband providers highlighted the practical results of AI technologies and lifestyle-based solutions marketing.

  • Allo Fiber showcased how its partnership with Calix enabled secure, community Wi-Fi for local schools, restoring connectivity for students after federal funding cuts. It reported achieving a NPS of 90 on its outdoor Wi-Fi coverage.
  • West Carolina Tel demonstrated how AI and automation cut operational costs, reducing truck rolls by 50% and resolving 97% of trouble tickets within 24 hours, helping it to achieve a NPS of 83.
  • Premier Communications brought SmartTown to the “Rag Ride” event in Iowa, supporting tens of thousands of visitors arriving in small rural communities, helping small businesses meet their annual sales targets in one day, and proving how community connectivity can reinforce brand value.
  • CLTEL, a long-time Calix customer, reported sustained growth and strong customer satisfaction by focusing on reliability and data-driven decision making, helping it achieve a NPS of 86 and a 75% take rate against the six competitors in the markets it serves.

Key Takeaways
Calix’s message this year was clear: BSPs can’t compete on price alone. Calix points to the potential for AI and automation as practical tools and encourages BSPs to think creatively about how connectivity fits into daily life, outdoors and beyond.

The conference underscored a shift already underway across the broadband industry: moving from selling bandwidth to delivering experiences.

Parks Associates tracks the broadband market in various ways, including both ongoing consumer surveys, interviews with key decision makers across the industry, and ongoing secondary research. Related research can be found in Parks Associates’ Broadband Market Tracker and Home Services Dashboard.