HIVE's BUZZ HPC partners with Bell Canada to build national AI infrastructure with NVIDIA GPUs

HIVE Digital Technologies’ high-performance computing division, BUZZ HPC, has formed a key partnership with Bell Canada to supply the AI computing backbone for the latter’s national AI infrastructure initiative, known as Bell AI Fabric. Under the agreement, BUZZ HPC will deploy large clusters of NVIDIA GPUs, including Ampere, Hopper, and Blackwell, interconnected using NVIDIA’s InfiniBand high-speed networking technology [1]. These GPU systems will be hosted within new data centers built for Bell AI Fabric, integrated with the company’s fiber network and cloud services. The first deployment, a 5-megawatt facility, is planned for Manitoba later this year, with further installations across the country in subsequent phases [2].

This collaboration supports Bell’s vision to establish a sovereign AI infrastructure that prioritizes data sovereignty and cybersecurity. The Bell AI Fabric initiative, announced in May 2025, is described as Canada’s largest sovereign AI compute project, with ambitions to deliver up to 500 megawatts of hydro-powered capacity across at least six data centers [1]. The project is part of a multiyear plan to build a national network of AI-focused facilities, reducing reliance on U.S.-based hyperscale cloud providers and ensuring secure, locally managed AI resources for government and enterprise clients [2].

Bell Canada, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. and the country’s largest telecommunications provider, has emphasized the strategic importance of this collaboration. John Watson, Group President of Business Markets at Bell, noted that BUZZ HPC’s infrastructure will serve as a critical component of the AI Fabric ecosystem, supporting advanced workloads in a secure and private environment [1]. The integration of BUZZ HPC’s GPU clusters with Bell’s fiber and cloud infrastructure enables a broad range of AI applications, from foundational model development to fine-tuning tasks [2].

The deployment of this infrastructure is also aligned with sustainability goals, with BUZZ HPC’s data centers powered entirely by renewable energy. This commitment is part of the company’s broader Green GPU initiative, which aims to combine AI innovation with environmentally responsible infrastructure [1]. The use of NVIDIA’s Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking ensures scalability, allowing the system to expand in response to growing demand [2].

In addition to BUZZ HPC, the Bell AI Fabric initiative includes contributions from other partners, including Cohere and Ateko, which bring specialized AI services and models to the ecosystem [2]. The initiative reflects an emerging trend toward sovereign cloud computing, with increasing emphasis on secure, locally hosted infrastructure to support national innovation and economic objectives [1].

The first phase of the Bell AI Fabric project began in June with the launch of a 7-megawatt AI inference facility in Kamloops, British Columbia, developed in partnership with U.S. chipmaker Groq. A second 7-megawatt facility in Merritt, British Columbia, is set to go live by year-end. Future phases include a 26-megawatt facility at Thompson Rivers University, intended for both training and inference, and a second 26-megawatt center planned for 2027 [1]. Additional high-density facilities with combined capacity exceeding 400 megawatts are in advanced planning and will also be powered by British Columbia’s hydroelectric grid [2].

The initiative is expected to position Canada as a leader in sovereign AI infrastructure, with BUZZ HPC providing the foundational hardware and other ecosystem participants contributing to the broader AI value chain [2]. The collaboration underscores the importance of secure and locally managed AI resources in the context of growing global demand for sovereign cloud solutions [1].

Source:

[1] https://www.hivedigitaltechnologies.com/news/buzz-high-performance-computing-partners-with-bell-canada-to-deliver-advanced-sovereign-nvidia-ai-infrastructure-for-canada/

[2] https://www.stocktitan.net/news/HIVE/buzz-high-performance-computing-a-subsidiary-of-hive-digital-yl6uhxfd0asg.html

[3] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/HIVE-Q/pressreleases/34235480/buzz-high-performance-computing-a-subsidiary-of-hive-digital-technologies-ltd-partners-with-bell-canada-to-deliver-advanced-sovereign-nvidia-ai-infrastructure-for-canada/