Gabriel Battista, chief executive officer of domain
registrar Network Solutions
Inc., announced Monday he was leaving to take the top spot at long
distance company Tel-Save.com Inc.
Battista will become Tel-Save’s chairman, chief executive officer and
president when he formally joins the firm in December.
Daniel Borislow, Tel-Save.com’s current chairman and chief executive
officer, said Battista’s experience in the telecommunications and
e-commerce industries will be a big asset.
“His Internet experience and relationship will increase the company’s
breadth as it rolls out additional e-commerce products and services. Gave
has produced consistently for Network Solutions since taking it public
where he has delivered over 100 percent revenue and earnings growth
annually,” Borislow said.
Battista’s announcement comes as the government is working on a plan to
allow competition in the domain name registration market. Network Solutions
was given an exclusive contract by the federal government to register .com,
.net and .org domain names.
In a brief statement, Battista said he was leaving to take advantage of
“new challenges and a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
He said Network Solutions still has a vibrant business and strong
management and finances.
Network Solutions said Michael A. Daniels, the company’s chairman, will
assume Battista’s duties until a successor can be found. Robert J.
Korzeniewski, the company’s chief financial officer, will serve as acting
chief operating officer and oversee the company’s daily operations.
Network Solutions has been under contract from the National Science Foundation to manage the
domain name system. The government recently granted the company a two-year
extension to continue in its role while the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers prepares to take over the Internet address system.
Over the weekend, ICANN held its first public meeting to get input on its
plans to take over the Internet’s address system. At that meeting, several
people criticized the board for not making its proceedings more public.
They also charge that the group of interim directors needs to be more
accountable to the Internet community.
ICANN is currently waiting for approval from the Department of Commerce before taking over its
new role.
