ROSKILDE, Denmark -- Digiquant, a global provider of software infrastructure for communications providers, announced today that Agder Energi AS, a leading Norwegian supplier of energy and network-related products, has selected Digiquant’s IMS product as the strategic platform for managing the transactions of the utility company’s diversified product portfolio. Using IMS, Agder expects to increase its operating efficiency and position itself as a preferred partner for ASP/billing/invoicing services throughout Norway and other parts of Scandinavia.Agder Energi President Eivind Krokmo commented, "This project will enable Agder to broaden its service scope beyond traditional energy and to achieve our strategy of being not only a multi-utility provider, but also a multi-service provider. The IMS software is at the heart of the IT solution needed to execute on that strategy."Agder Energi has extended its multi-utility footprint to digital services, such as multi-service broadband. The company’s customers will be able to choose from a portfolio of digital services, including Internet access, electronic mail and home page accounts, video and programs on demand, among others. The "transaction factory", a central repository for customer-related data, will be used to manage all services, whether digital or energy. Using IMS, Agder will offer its customers and partners web-based self-care and customer care applications, that enable the efficient management of options and parameters related to service and delivery options as well as rating and billing."Utility companies have a strong, existing relationship with their customers. By diversifying its product portfolio with digital services, Agder is leveraging that customer base and enhancing its profile as service provider. The transaction factory not only supplies a universal customer/partner interface, it also provides a central repository for all service related transactions, thus lowering operational and capital costs and allowing Agder to offer the best services with the best rates to its end-user customers and business partners," said Colin Murray, general manager of Digiquant’s EMEA division. Digiquant A/S