[e.spire Web-Hosting Subsidiary, ValueWeb, Tops 50,000 Customer Accounts]
ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2000--e.spire Communications, Inc., the communications company for the networked economy, today announced that its Florida-based Web-hosting subsidiary, ValueWeb, has achieved more than 50,000 Web-hosting customer accounts.
This number from ValueWeb added to the nearly 50,000 dial-up Internet accounts of e.spire's dial-up Internet service provider (ISP), CyberGate, creates a new total for both e.spire Internet subsidiaries of more than 100,000 customer accounts.
Since last March ValueWeb has remained one of the top-10 largest Web-hosting providers in the world, according to data obtained from Network Solutions (NASDAQ: NSOL - news), the world's leading registrar of domain names. In 1999, ValueWeb signed up accounts at an average rate of 3,100 per month. More than 20% of these new Web sites are equipped for e-commerce.
ValueWeb now serves customers in more than 136 countries.
``Our Internet subsidiaries have continued to grow, performing well in a marketplace dominated by very large competitors,' said Anthony J. Pompliano, e.spire Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. ``ValueWeb and CyberGate differentiate their services by delivering excellent prices and superb customer care.'
ValueWeb helps small businesses establish a presence on the Internet with low-cost, full-featured Web-hosting solutions. It offers products that allow seamless migration to higher end services as Web sites mature and expand. In 1996, ValueWeb was one of the first national shared-hosting companies to offer a complete domain-based Web site for $19.95.
ValueWeb was also one of the first to bundle a free commercial shopping cart package with its e-commerce solution in 1998. In 1999, ValueWeb launched its Enterprise account, which delivers high-end performance backed by a 100% guarantee for only $199.95 per month. This gives small business customers the advantages of the latest technologies at reasonable prices.
Aggressive marketing strategies and referral programs have helped ValueWeb more than double its customer base in 1999. ValueWeb is one of the only large domain-based hosting services that has gained a substantial portion of its customer base through organic growth rather than acquisition. Revenue for the company is also growing.
e.spire purchased CyberGate in 1997, a year after CyberGate had purchased ValueWeb. The two companies--ValueWeb offering Web hosting and CyberGate, dial-up Internet access--complement one another, and, in turn, broaden e.spire's portfolio. As announced in December, the subsidiaries are currently moving to a state-of-the-art building in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
The new facility, including a super-modern data center, will enable the companies to attract and serve even more customers. The building also connects to e.spire's local area fiber network in South Florida, which carries data traffic directly to e.spire's national Tier-1 Internet backbone.
``e.spire's infrastructure provides a key strategic advantage for ValueWeb, one of the only hosting services that does not have to outsource some aspect of its Internet infrastructure.' said Tom Benham, Jr., ValueWeb Vice President of Marketing. ``Because we control the local-loop and long-haul data transport, as well as the data center, we can keep costs down and provide a higher level of service to customers.'
``As we begin to offer higher end products and services, such as colocation and dedicated servers, the opportunity to leverage the synergies between ValueWeb's and e.spire's product lines will continue to grow,' added Benham. |
