Contrivian completes Big Network merger for starlink

Contrivian has completed its merger with networking software company Big Network, bringing Big Network's software into the Contrivian platform.

The combined company says it can integrate Starlink and other low Earth orbit satellite services with fibre, broadband and 5G in a single managed network for enterprise and government customers.

Contrivian is presenting the merger as a shift from managed connectivity to a model built around software it now owns directly. Bringing the orchestration technology in-house gives it tighter control over how it develops and delivers networking services.

The software is designed to route traffic across multiple connections at once, rather than relying on a conventional primary link with a standby backup. In practice, data can move across fibre, broadband, LTE, 5G and satellite links based on current network conditions.

This differs from traditional failover systems, which switch traffic only after the main connection has degraded or stopped working. Contrivian says its active-active model continuously measures available paths and selects the best route for each application in real time.

The merger comes as organisations spread workloads across cloud systems, remote sites, edge environments and connected devices. At the same time, wider use of artificial intelligence tools and more distributed workforces are increasing pressure on network uptime and performance.

Grant Kirkwood, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Contrivian, said the transaction changes the company's operating model as well as its product set.

"The merger fundamentally changes what Contrivian is and what we're capable of becoming. Nobody else has this software, because nobody else built it for this. The Big Network software was engineered from the ground up for intelligent, multimodal, mission-critical connectivity, and it now lives inside our platform and nowhere else. Software, hardware, carrier and engineering now work as one system. It's a network engineer in a box, and that's what lets us move faster, serve more customers and scale Contrivian as demand for mission-critical connectivity keeps growing," said Grant Kirkwood, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Contrivian.

Network model

Many organisations still use a network design built around one main connection and a backup line. That setup can leave a gap between the point where service quality starts to drop and the point when traffic is shifted elsewhere.

Tom Daly, Principal Technologist at Contrivian, described this as a weakness in established networking architecture.

"Failover means failure has already happened. Traditional architectures wait for the primary connection to degrade or go down before moving traffic to a backup. We continuously measure every available path across fiber, wireless and LEO satellite and optimize traffic according to real-time performance. That makes separate connections behave as one system, reducing the brief outages and performance gaps associated with traditional failover," said Daly.

Contrivian says the enlarged business supports customers in more than 160 countries through more than 600 carrier relationships. That footprint gives it access to terrestrial and satellite connectivity options across a wide range of markets.

The business serves enterprise and government organisations, including customers in public safety, healthcare, energy, financial services and government. Those sectors often need networks that can keep working across remote locations, field deployments and widely distributed operations.

Earlier this year, the company launched Contrivian Constellation, which combines Starlink with other low Earth orbit satellite services and terrestrial links under one managed platform. The merger adds Big Network's software more deeply into that broader product strategy.

Contrivian says the software-led model also gives customers centralised oversight of deployment, performance and lifecycle management across different connection types. By integrating connectivity, hardware, software and service delivery into one platform, it aims to reduce reliance on the separate third-party products still used in many network deployments.

The combined solution is now available for enterprise and government deployments.