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AltaGas Outsources Data Centre to Q9 in Managed Infrastructure Deal
Toronto, ON - April 14, 2005 - Q9 Networks Inc. (TSX:Q), a leading provider of outsourced Internet infrastructure and related managed services, is pleased to announce it has been awarded a comprehensive outsourcing contract by AltaGas Income Trust, one of Canada's largest energy trusts.
Under the terms of the agreement, Q9 is providing physical space and managed services from its Calgary data centre in support of a large number of critical AltaGas systems.
AltaGas has assets totaling over $1 billion and a market capitalization of approximately $1.2 billion. Its assets include natural gas gathering and processing facilities, interests in ethane and natural gas liquids extraction plants, and transmission pipelines.
"We are poised for considerable growth and require a provider that can not only deliver the highest levels of infrastructure security and reliability today, but one that can also grow with us over the long term," says Dave Watt, Director, Information Services, AltaGas. "After conducting extensive due diligence, we concluded that Q9 is best able to meet our needs. Q9's facilities, services and track record with other leading companies in our industry gave us the confidence to entrust them with a large amount of our mission-critical systems."
Q9 delivers unparalleled service through an extensive suite of customer care products, including a Web-based portal that provides complete visibility into customer equipment and Q9 services. All Q9 and customer systems are monitored from the Q9 Network Operations Centre (NOC) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NOC experts are also available to customers on an around-the-clock basis to resolve issues and provide advice.
"Our Calgary facility continues to attract prestigious companies such as AltaGas and we are delighted to have been selected as their exclusive provider of data centre services," says Osama Arafat, CEO, Q9 Networks. "Our cost-effective high-availability solutions have enabled AltaGas to outsource the burden of infrastructure management while better focusing on core competencies."
About AltaGas Income Trust
AltaGas moves energy from its source to the end user, adding value through the process. The Trust has consolidated assets totaling over $1 billion and a market
capitalization of approximately $1.2 billion. Its steadily expanding asset base today includes natural gas gathering and processing facilities, interests in
ethane and natural gas liquids extraction plants, and transmission pipelines. AltaGas distributes natural gas to Alberta customers through AltaGas Utilities
Inc., to customers in the Northwest Territories through the Ikhil Gas Project and distributes gas in Nova Scotia through its interest in Heritage Gas Limited.
The Trust provides energy services to customers, including marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids and sale of power from its power purchase based arrangements.
AltaGas' Trust Units are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ALA.UN. The Trust is included in the S&P/TSX Capped Income Trust Index and
the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Trust Index. For further information, please visit www.altagas.ca.
About Q9 Networks
Q9 Networks is a leading Canadian provider of outsourced Internet infrastructure and related managed services.
Q9's data centres and network are backed by an industry leading SLA which guarantees 100% network and power availability.
Q9 managed services, including: bandwidth, dedicated servers, firewalls, load balancing, virtual private networking
(VPN) and back-up/restore, enable the rapid provisioning and scalability of client infrastructure.
For further information, please contact:
Kevin Spikes
Director of Corporate & Investor Relations
Q9 Networks Inc.
Toronto: 416-365-7211
Toll Free: 1-888-696-2266
media.relations@Q9.com
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