Sabey, Q9 Partner on Cross-Border US-Canada Data Center Offering

Sabey Data Centers has partnered with Canadian data center provider Q9 Networks, with both companies hoping to make their services attractive to customers that need data center footprint in both the US and Canada.

Broad geographic reach has become an important factor for data center providers, all of whom are competing with giants like Equinix and Digital Realty Trust, whose global presence makes them natural go-to players for international infrastructure deployments. Neither Seattle-based Sabey nor Q9, partially owned by Bell Canada, currently have data centers outside of their respective countries.

In 2012, Canadian telco Bell (BCE Inc.) partnered with Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and two US private equity firms, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners, to acquire Q9 for C$1.1 billion from its previous owner ABRY Partners.

The two data center providers will now market each other’s services to their existing customers and prospects, “effectively creating an international offering of data center locations and services that spans the US and Canada from coast to coast,” they said in a joint statement issued Tuesday.

Sabey operates data centers in Washington State, Virginia, and New York City, while Q9’s footprint is in Toronto, Calgary, and Kamloops, British Columbia.

John Sabey, the US company’s president, said the partners expect strong demand for their pan-North American offering from the financial services and energy sectors, “especially with oil and gas producers who operate in both countries.”

See also: Sabey Earmarks Half of Manhattan Skyscraper for Office Space