[e.spire's ValueWeb Ranked Ninth Globally in Web Hosting]
ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, Md., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- e.spire Communications, Inc. today announced better than expected growth in its data and Internet division, e.spireDATA. ValueWeb, the company's Web-hosting brand, is now the ninth largest in the world with more than 21,000 company sites now residing on its servers, according to data obtained from Network Solutions, the official domain registry for the .com, .org and .net top-level domains.
"ValueWeb is a global brand serving companies from more than 100 countries," said Dennis Kern, e.spire Chief Operating Officer and President of e.spireDATA. "In less than two years we have been able to grow from a start-up to a clear leadership position in a competitive, high-growth marketplace."
Increasing market share has been only one of e.spire's goals for its Web-hosting brand. In 1998, the company introduced its first e-commerce-hosting product in conjunction with ValueWeb. E-commerce hosting enables companies to create online catalogs and shopping cart systems and offer online merchant services through their Web sites.
Network Solutions Relationship
e.spire's subsidiary entered into an agreement with Network Solutions (NASDAQ:NSOL) to offer domain name registration services to its customers through ValueWeb. Domain names provide a unique Internet identity for communications, marketing and e-commerce. Through this relationship, e.spire is able to bundle domain registration services with ValueWeb and deliver a complete Internet presence solution to its customers. Customers can perform real time searches of the InterNIC database -- and register online -- through the ValueWeb site. Currently, more than 1,000 customer domains are registered per month on the ValueWeb site.
e.spire also announced its participation in Network Solutions' dot com toolkit(TM), a small business resource center that provides access to tools and services for setting up a Web site and doing business on the Internet. After a business has registered a domain with Network Solutions, it can take its Internet presence to the next level by purchasing a ValueWeb account directly from the Network Solutions Web site.
"Many of our customers want to put up additional Web sites, and nearly every company needs to register a domain name," said Kern. "Our relationship with Network Solutions gives our customers access to an efficient, hassle-free solution."
Continued High Growth Expected in 1999
e.spire expects the demand for its ValueWeb hosting services to continue to accelerate.
"With continual product introductions and enhancements and additional cross-promotional agreements, I am certain we will realize even greater growth in 1999," concluded Kern. |
