Qwest spears Mint deal

The U.S. Mint, concerned about protecting its Web operation, has hired Qwest Communications International Inc. to provide backup Web hosting services.

Qwest will host a backup to the site at a remote location so that if anything happens to the primary location, the backup can immediately take over, said James Payne, senior vice president and general manager of the company's Government Services division. The contract's value was not immediately disclosed.

Redundant services are becoming more common, said Joe Pate, manager of one of Qwest's data centers, in Sterling, Va. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, showed people how quickly data could be lost, but even so, the momentum is growing only slowly, he said.

"Everybody talked about it for a long time," he said. "Now people are starting to do it."

The Mint provides information and also conducts electronic commerce through its Web site. The U.S. Treasury was already a Qwest customer for other telecommunications services.