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Q9 Selected to Host Ontario Electricity Market Data Clearinghouse
TORONTO - May 26, 2005 - Q9 Networks Inc. (TSX:Q), a leading provider of outsourced Internet infrastructure and related managed services, is pleased to announce it has been selected by Toronto-based The SPi Group Inc. to provide a managed infrastructure solution for Ontario's retail electricity market data clearinghouse.
Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Q9 is providing The SPi Group with a completely managed, high-availability environment including servers, bandwidth, firewalls and back-up and restore services, that will ensure the uninterrupted functioning of Ontario's retail electricity market data clearinghouse.
Operational in Ontario since March 2002, the EBTx Data Clearinghouse connects the information systems of 70 different local distribution companies and energy retailers, such as Direct Energy, Toronto Hydro and Hydro One. The system handles 100 percent of retail market data, including enrolment, usage, meter, settlement and invoice transactions, for almost one million consumers in Ontario.
"As the leading market operator in Ontario, we require an extremely high standard for service quality," says Tim Fry, CIO, The SPi Group Inc. "Our EBTx Data Clearinghouse is critical to the smooth operation of Ontario's retail energy market and any downtime would be unacceptable. Without our service, approximately 800,000 electricity customers across the province would either be billed improperly or not at all. We selected Q9 because of its unsurpassed connectivity, redundancy, back-up and failover services. The performance and capacity of Q9's infrastructure will also help support the expected expansion of SPi's operations resulting from the forthcoming implementation of Ontario's Smart Meter Initiative."
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 Q9's multiple Network Operations Centres (NOCs) 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.
"As an application service provider, the SPi Group clearly understands Q9's value proposition," says Osama Arafat, CEO, Q9 Networks. "By outsourcing mission-critical infrastructure, The SPi Group can focus on developing the applications that enable the effective exchange of data between Ontario's electricity market participants. We are very pleased to have been selected for this critical assignment and look forward to working with The SPi Group to ensure their needs are met both now and into the future."
About The SPi Group Inc.
Headquartered in Toronto, The SPi Group Inc. (SPi) provides operations, services and solutions for clients in competitive energy markets.
The company combines expert support, software development and consulting teams with extensive expertise in the energy industry. Active
since the early planning stages of the province's competitive electricity market, SPi has earned the respect of market participants and
government regulating bodies. SPi is the leading clearinghouse service provider in Ontario, processing 100% of the province's retail
market data, which includes over one million meter points. SPi's system is one of the largest of its kind in the world by volume.
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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