HIGH-SPEED NETWORKS Happy To Take Its Lumps Early Broadwing ran into troubles before rivals did, but that could be blessing now.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: Reinhardt Krause

Broadwing Inc. hit a rough stretch earlier than other phone companies that also are building long-distance networks to carry Internet and data services.

Richard Ellenberger, Broadwing's chief executive, calls those early troubles a blessing in disguise because they occurred before the big economic slide and steeled the company for today's turmoil.

The company's big challenge began two years ago, when Ellenberger went out on a limb. Then CEO of Cincinnati Bell Inc., the 10th-largest local phone carrier, he decided to buy start-up IXC Communications Inc. The combined company was renamed Broadwing.

Money-losing IXC lacked customers for its new fiber-optic phone network. But Cincinnati Bell's financial clout has given Ellenberger time for a turnaround.

"I'm not sure we could have done it in today's environment," Ellenberger said, referring to falling stock prices and dried-up funding sources. "When the capital markets became constrained, we had already made the biggest part of our (network) investment. We needed to have that behind us to gain the traction that we have."

Narrowing Losses