Provo fiber-optic company ousts CEO

Provo-based fiber-optic cable company Broadweave Networks has asked its founder and CEO to resign in order to find leadership more experienced in customer service and network operations.

Steve Christensen was offered another position at the company he created, but he declined. Christensen continues to be a major shareholder, said David Moon, who heads the company's board of directors.

"Steve actually did a lot of good things," Moon said. "We wouldn't be where we are today without his vision, his pluck."

The board asked Christensen to step down two weeks ago, said Moon, who called the change part of Broadweave's "growing up."

The leadership shift comes at the same time Broadweave is increasing its customer base by around 10 percent with the acquisition of about 1,400 customer contracts from Nuvont Communications.

Nuvont customers will see the change immediately, but the purchase will take place over time, Moon said.

"This is a good thing for the customers," said Moon, who will act as Broadweave CEO until a permanent replacement is found. "There's no uncertainty about who's going to provide service in the future."

Customers using voice, video and data services will have more functionality and faster Internet speeds, he said.

The purchase of Nuvont's customer base is one of the final steps in Broadweave's quest to be a vertically integrated service provider, Moon said.

Broadweave purchased the failing iProvo network from Provo in 2008 after the city lost money on the project. At the time, the iProvo network was required by law to allow multiple businesses to use its fiber-optic services.

The $40.6 million deal let Broadweave buy up the customers of other providers but required the business to pay Provo $277,000 monthly for the city's bond obligations.

In recent months, those payments have been made from a reserve fund, allowing Broadweave to update technological equipment and expand the consumer base, Moon said.

The payments will have to be made over the 20-year life of the city bond.

As of the Nuvont purchase, Broadweave had persuaded about 43 percent of the homes and businesses it passes to sign up for service.

"We're really working hard to establish the very best customer care of anybody in our industry here in Provo," Moon said.

E-MAIL: rpalmer@desnews.com