By Nick Patience
NaviNet Inc, the outsourced supplier of wholesale ISP services is finding that its target market is changing rapidly as companies are realizing that offering an internet access services is a good marketing tool and a way of building communities. Majority-owned by CMGI Inc, the Andover, Massachusetts-based company is starting to target affinity groups, mass marketing companies and large corporations, as well as its traditional customer base of ISPs, both free and fee-based.
Chief executive T.C. Browne says the company is trying to move beyond mere dial-up provision to a value-added service provider. The company will today announce product developments and a roadmap for the next few quarters.
The company has now moved its core GeoDial outsourced ISP product to version 3.0. This adds service-level agreements, toll-free dialing options, a new version of its management software and roaming capabilities. The SLAs come from Inverse Network Technologies, which is now owned by Visual Networks Inc. NaviNet is also using Visual’s IP Insight diagnostic tools. Other partnerships NaviNet has struck include Critical Path Inc for email and Covad Communications Inc for DSL technology. The DSL capabilities will start rolling out in the first quarter 2000.
Version 2.0 of the online management software, which NaviNet produced in-house, adds such things as the ability to track subscriber trends, troubleshoot individual users and browse activity on a regional basis. It will be available this quarter.
Further down the line, NaviNet is developing the ability to offer secure tunnels, caching and streaming advanced billing systems, customer care and fulfillment and PKI-based security systems. The secure tunnels will be some time during the first half of 2000 and the company is talking to companies including Juniper Networks and SkyCache about the caching technology, and firms including iBeam about the streaming. But, says Browne, the company will always be a wholesale ISP and has no plans to go direct to the consumer. The company has about 30 Super PoPs now, covering about 50% of the US population now and up to 80% by the year-end.
