UUNet Launches ISP Program

UUNet unveiled Wednesday a program that provides small and regional Internet service providers (ISPs) with outsourced services, product discounts and marketing support.

UUNet's ISP Program, now available, lets ISPs tap UUNet and its vendor partners for basic access and value-added services such as e-mail, domain name registration, news-reader accounts and technical support. In outsourcing those services, ISPs can avoid the expense of building their own infrastructure, according to the company. Alternatively, ISPs that prefer to manage their own operations can purchase bandwidth, hardware, marketing and call-center services on an as-needed basis.

Product vendors participating in UUNet's ISP Program include Cisco Systems Inc., IBM Corp., ISP Alliance and Lucent Technologies Inc.

Brad Wise, VP of channel sales at UUNet, said the ISP Program is geared toward second-tier ISPs. UUNet had been providing bandwidth to those ISPs, but little else, Wise noted. "They wanted more from us," he said.

UUNet launched the program with a handful of customers. One such company is Richmond Telephone, a regional telecommunications company that has become an ISP through UUNet's program. Richmond Telephone initially aims to provide Internet services to home and business customers in Berkshire County, Mass.