FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALPHA STRENGTHENS HEADEND POWER BUSINESS FOCUS

Bellingham, Wash., February 8, 2001 - Leading power manufacturer Alpha Technologies has again expanded its Headend Powering business to support the growing deployment of telephony services over broadband cable systems.

Headend upgrades to support telephony services have furthered the demands of the cable operator to provide power systems concurrent with the specifications of lifeline services. Alpha supports both AC and DC power requirements within the Headend to provide the necessary backup power for cable and telephony services.

Most telephony electronics require –48 VDC and lifeline services require that these DC power plants have a minimum of 4 hours of battery runtime in addition to a generator. Many of these Headend sites are retrofitted to support these new requirements. The rapid deployment schedules of cable companies have also placed a strong demand for Alpha’s complete Turn-Key Installation Services.

Today, the majority of Headend sites require a combination of both AC/UPS power equipment and –48 volt DC plants to support the hybrid requirement, of the Headend electronics. To provide the necessary powering solutions for these new system designs, Alpha offers a full family of DC power products and has just added two new single-phase AC power systems.

The 1400 Series 18kVA UPS provides maximum power density, boasting the smallest footprint in its class. Two additional rack-mount UPS systems have also been added to Alpha’s headend offering. These systems are available in 1.5kVA and 2.0kVA power ratings and provide the benefit of internal batteries, occupying only 3RU of rack space. Both of these new UPS systems incorporate dual conversion technology that provides total power conditioning for sensitive headend electronics – regardless of the quality of the utility or generator input power.

Alpha provides its customers with on-site Headend Power Surveys to determine the power requirements for supporting critical digital electronics. These services included reengineering options for the existing power distribution network as well as the development of a customer specific Scope of Work addressing strategic power placement, battery runtime requirements and compatibility with the existing hardware.

Alpha Technologies Inc. develops power conversion, protection and standby products for telecommunications and cable television industries, including custom, application-specific power solutions. In addition to product development, Alpha Technologies provides a comprehensive range of installation and maintenance services to support its global customer base. Alpha Technologies is a member of The Alpha Group of companies.

The Alpha Group represents a global alliance of independent companies that share a common philosophy - create world-class powering solutions for communication, commercial, industrial and renewable energy markets.

For this and/or additional information in electronic form, go to www.alpha.com.