NightFire Offers Broadband Access

NightFire Software, Inc. today introduced its hosted service NightFire BandwidthExpress.com.

BandwidthExpress.com will allow Web brands to offer their users high-speed Internet access services like DSL.

This venture capital funded company was founded two years ago by a team of executives from the communications software industry. “We are a software company that is focused on products that help deploy broadband service,” Jerry Rudisin, president and chief executive officer explained to ASP-News.

With its latest announcement, NightFire has three products: SupplierExpress, CustomerExpress and BandwidthExpress.

SupplierExpress, as described by Rudisin, is a back-office product used by DSL providers. A total out of the box solution, SupplierExpress automates the entire line ordering process.

CustomerExpress is a front-end tool for acquiring customers for DSL, and is sold to ISPs and resellers of DSL.

“There is a set of major Internet players who have an interest in creating a community of DSL users,” Rudisin said. “And BandwidthExpress lets big Internet brands have an end-to-end solution to offer DSL to its subscribers.”

DSL providers NightFire has signed up on the back-end to provide access are Pacific Bell, Bell Atlantic, Ameritech and Bell South.

ASP-News learned that NightFire is also working with some of the competition and the incumbent carriers, though no additional deals are completed.

“Our goal is to have nation wide coverage very quickly,” Rudisin said. “By end of Q3 this year.”

NightFire BandwidthExpress.com is designed for companies such as general and specialized Web portals, content providers, PC and networking manufacturers and other e-businesses that see a community of high-speed, always-on users as a strategic opportunity.

Offered on an ASP delivery model, NightFire hosts the BandwidthExpress.com software, which can be customized to each customer. “It is a very turn-key solution to get the Internet brands to offer DSL to their customers,” Rudisin said. “There is a lot of interest in high speed access and an immense demand.

NightFire Software, Inc. has two small partners signed up on BandwidthExpress.com, to be announced this month. The service is live and available today, but only to allow orders in California.

“We are not trying to create a destination site so people will come to NightFire,” Rudisin said. “We are playing a behind the scenes role. We want people to go to their ISP.”

As for pricing, the model is a subscription fee that varies by expected volume. According to Rudisin, this can range from over $100,000 to a million plus.

NightFire Software ( Berkeley, Calif.) secured $5.5 million in its first round of funding in August 1998, and closed $30 million in its second round February 2000.