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Technology Stocks : Internap Network Services Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dave B who wrote (502)	10/29/2002 10:26:10 PM
From: Jibacoa	Respond to of 1011

An here is a copy of an Interview in BroadBand Magazine: (It is somewhat O.T.,but look towards the end the comments about Internap and remember INAP said today that Sony PlayStation is signed on and ready to be installed. Interview: Edward Bender of Speakeasy Written by Karl Bode Edward Bender may just have the coolest job in the world. As the director of on-line gaming at Speakeasy, Bender has helped define the DSL provider as a low latency, content rich, gaming-friendly ISP. We sat down with Edward and picked his brain in the hopes of gleaning some information on the future of broadband gaming and game related content. At the current stage in the broadband business life-cycle, there's a heavy push for broadband ISP's to differentiate themselves from one another by adding value added services. Repeated surveys indicate that dial-up subscribers are staying away from broadband because it's too expensive, and there's no compelling content. While he can't do much about the former, Edward Bender has plenty to say about the latter. BBR: Please identify yourself soldier. What's your official title and what's a normal day like at work? I am the Director of Online Gaming at Speakeasy. I’ve been working on various projects in the interactive services area for more than three years and it’s been an amazing experience watching everything evolve. The focus of most of my work centers around two things, 1) making our Broadband and content services better for people that want to play games online, and 2) communicating our message to the marketplace and discussing all the cool stuff we have in the works, which is of course tied to attracting more subscribers. Examples of my day to day are: our recent partnership with ShackNews to launch the Fileshack.com network and subscription service;and the Beta hosting of Valve Software’s Steam Project. Both of these services co-exist between our network and the public Internet, meaning that our DSL subscribers access the content faster than anyone else. Most recently I put together our partnership with EBGames.com to give away a free XBOX or PS2 when someone orders a DSL gaming or system admin package – which has been a huge success. BBR: Speakeasy has been one of the larger sponsors of Lan gaming competitions. As far as sponsorship is concerned, what is coming up during the next six months or so? We are sponsoring the World Cyber Games in Korea, which is a six-day event starting October 28th. We’re hosting the USA Broadcast network of audio streaming servers (live coverage) in partnership with the guys at Team Sportscast Network. We’re also hosting all the proxy/spectator servers using GamersTV Software. Viewership for these events is now into the tens of thousands simultaneously and I’m really impressed by the organizations that are making competitive video gaming a reality. For the future, we will wait a little bit to see what comes of console-based events, and if the current leagues are going to expand to the mass-market games like the online sports games and such. We've done a number of events like QuakeCon and our own LAN parties, and we're not going to stop... but I really want to see what happens with the XBOX and PS2 competition scene – there is so much potential there. Online we continue to be the official ISP of the Online Gaming League and the Cyberathlete Amateur League. Basically we host servers for them in our network, giving any player with Speakeasy DSL a competitive advantage over another – since his DSL connection pipes right into a game server. BBR: Can you provide some numbers as to how successful your last console deal was? Which console was better liked? Can you elaborate on the details of the agreement with EBGames at all? We re-launched the Xbox/PS2 promotion again after its success in September. (this one runs until October 31) We hit record sales days and since many of Speakeasy’s sales and support staff are gamers, it's pretty easy for us to answer specific console-related questions. About 30% more people requested the XBOX than the PS2, and our informal interviews behind these statistics revealed that most of the the clients either already had a PS2, or did not want to get a separate broadband adapter to play online. EBGames has been an exemplary partner to work with on this project. They've consistently shipped the consoles with speed and grace and I have not heard of one error on their end. Basically, when a customer gets their DSL installed, we send them a coupon code, they go to EBGames.com and order their console, EB ships it and everyone is happy. BBR: Do you have any other plans in the works specific to console gaming? Obviously it's our plan to extend our reputation as the ISP for PC gaming to the console space; I think we're taking all the right steps to do this. Our goal is not to compete with the price-war focused ILECs and Cable companies; but rather, commit to serving the best-of-breed service to people that depend on quality. It's safe to say that over the next year, you will see us embrace and service the demand for good broadband. BBR: Being so close to the action, when you gaze at your tea leaves, what do you see the future of broadband console gaming looking like? Will it eclipse the PC within the next decade? I can't tell you how good it feels to be excited about consoles again... I really started to miss my couch. Nothing on the PC is making me as excited as console titles are right now, and I don't think they will until Condition Zero or Doom 3. I’m actually looking forward to a break from FPS games, since that’s all I’ve been playing for three years straight. BBR: Do you have a personal favorite console? Which do you own and play regularly? Which PC games are you currently playing? I own an XBOX and a PS2. I'd have to say I like the XBOX a little bit more right now, but that might be because of the HDTV support and my current addiction to Halo. On October 29th, I'll dust off my PS2 for GTA: Vice City. I simply cannot wait for that game, watching all of the previews and movies online has brought me close to tears a few times. I can't wait to see where they take the Love Media sub plot with the Grand Theft Auto franchise. The parallels to the American media conglomerates in GTA 3 are the best use communicating a social message through games that I've ever seen. I think that's a big reason that the media has been so focused on doing these pathetic exposes on the game... a game that millions of 18-34 year old guys are playing every night. The mainstream media would rather have consumers watching ad-centric TV programming, but games like GTA 3 and Counter-Strike are showing how a relatively small group of people can have a profound effect on what people do for entertainment. So as much as I'm looking forward to just playing the game, I can't wait to see what the media tries to do with it. I've been playing Tenebrae, which is basically Quake 1 with some hardcore plastic surgery and then a bunch of demos. Most recently that is Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and No One Lives Forever 2. You have to check out Teenage Lawn Mower. I have to say I'm spending most of my gaming time getting caught up on console games – and the various Xbox Live Beta Games. BBR: One of the biggest things holding back DSL in the U.S. is price. Speakeasy's product in particular is more expensive than many of your competitors (both DSL and cable). What are your thoughts on the future costs of your product, and how do you hope to lure broadband gamers away from cable? Speakeasy provides a premium service to subscribers who appreciate a high performance national network, innovative technology and services with unmatched connection speed and stability. Based on the feedback we get, we know our customer care is setting the industry standard – our reps speak the language of the subscribers and can proactively troubleshoot problems. Bottom line: Speakeasy has grown by word-of-mouth referrals for a reason. BBR: Speakeasy has slowly grown to wear the monicker of being a "Gamer's ISP". Was this a company goal, and to what to you attribute this shift? We listen to feedback from gamers, game developers/publishers and the hardware manufacturers and we act accordingly. We do the same thing for online music, open source, small businesses and many other communities. However, I think gamers are the most vocal of the crowd since they’ve arguably been online the longest. They are also the first to let you know when you’re doing something wrong – and it’s the constant feedback and input from the gaming community which keeps us on our toes. BBR: How much credit can you give to Internap for the success of your services? I don’t think we could ask for a better partner than InterNAP, especially as it comes to hosting game servers where latency is the deciding factor in the quality of the end users experience. BBR: Any thoughts on the future of the industry as a whole? I think companies like Speakeasy show that you can have a powerful Broadband product AND be ethical. The negativity in this industry over the past year has distracted the public from the importance and potential of Broadband. It continues to impact our lives in an amazing way and that should really be the focus. I look at sites like www.indymedia.org, and Broadband has basically allowed for their creation and exponential proliferation worldwide. My enthusiasm exceeds any depression as a result of the nonsense we’ve seen on the corporate side of the fence recently.