A control protocol is run in the interconnect region between network domains so that the interconnect region may be managed using a separate control plane. According to an embodiment of the invention, a spanning tree protocol is used to establish a separate spanning tree within the interconnect region. To avoid loop formation within the interconnect region, links interconnecting adjacent edge nodes that are part of the interconnect region and which belong to a given domain are allowed to pass control frames but not data frames. OAM may be used detect link failure of a link between adjacent nodes on a given domain.