Own-Branded You Can Really Own

ISPs have a new choice in the own-branded services space. CMGI‘s
high-tech power-behind-1stup, NaviPath,
today announced its Navi499 offering, a service that will enable
ISPs
to offer Internet service at $4.99 per month.

ISP-Planet profiled NaviPath’s technology when the company was
called
NaviNet, in the article, "Dial
Access with Depth." The company offers a high-availability,
better-than-average
access network with switch bypass technology that avoids Internet
congestion.
NaviPath’s core network is deployed across the US.

NaviPath’s systems architecture includes backoffice capabilities
that
are augmented by other CMGI companies, such as SalesLink
(which can make own-branded CD’s to order) and Engage
(which can help with advertising and media sales).

Some features of the Navi499 service are not offered by other
providers,
such as the “One Account” architecture that enables users to
maintain
a single identity, even if, for example, the user switches service
types.
Gene Boucher, Director of NaviOne
Services Marketing, told us that the Navi499 service requires
customization,
and that clients should have a subscriber base of at least 25,000 in
order
to recoup costs.

He said, "Unlike many other suppliers, NaviPath does not
assume
ownership of the subscriber information gathered via the Navi499
service."
He added that although the subscriber data resides on NaviPath
equipment,
it is owned by the ISP, unlike other own-branded offerings which
require
ISPs to share subscriber information with the offering company.

Gene Boucher concluded, "I think this is the most flexible
branded
Internet offering at this price level, and that no other service
offers
this level of branding, nor do competitors allow clients to retain
ownership
of their subscriber data."

Alex Goldman is Associate Editor of ISP-Planet