Broadwing expands into Canada

Broadwing Communications has extended its network reach into the great northern expanses, announcing a deal with Big Pipe networks that will allow Broadwing to terminate traffic throughout the Canadian carrier’s footprint.

Big Pipe, the optical transport subsidiary of Shaw Communications, is consolidating most of its U.S. network traffic onto Broadwing’s network, eliminating its contracts with other carriers, said Mike Stewart, Broadwing president of mid markets. Meanwhile Broadwing will use Big Pipe’s Canadian network to terminate its own traffic. Though the companies released few financial details, Stewart said the agreement was definitely not a transport swap.

"While the flavor of the deal is a partnership, both networks have to stand on their own economically," Stewart said.

Broadwing, which was recently bought by Corvis, runs an all-optical IP backbone to about 500 points of presence scattered throughout the major U.S. metro markets. Network deals with other North American and international carriers are becoming more prominent as Broadwing’s customer base expands to multinational corporations, Stewart said.

Big Pipe runs the optical network that serves Shaw’s 2.9 million cable customers, but runs a separate carrier business that has been creeping into the U.S. since 2001. As part of the agreement with Broadwing, Big Pipe will offer private line, Ethernet and ATM services.