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NEWS RELEASE
Release Dates: Immediate
Contact: Leslie Nolen
404-815-0770 ext. 2828
leslienolen@mindspring.net
MindSpring Announces New Low Cost Web Hosting Service
ATLANTA (March 23, 1998) - MindSpring Enterprises, Inc. today announced a
strategic addition to its Web hosting service. MindSpring's dial-up members
can now add virtual Web hosting (www.companyname.com) to their dial-up plan
for an additional $19.95 per month.
"This puts commercial Web hosting within easy reach for our dial-up
members," said Mike McQuary, MindSpring's president and chief operating
officer. "Our members have always enjoyed a generous allowance of disk space
on our dial-up plans for hosting a personal or small business web page, with
an address of the form (companyname.home.mindspring.com). We will continue
to offer that service. We have now developed an ideal entrée into commercial
web hosting for our members who want a more direct address to their web
page, at a very economical rate. For example, a member of our Light dial-up
plan can now add $19.95 virtual web hosting to their $6.95 dial-up plan, and
have a complete dial-up and Web hosting solution for $26.90."
MindSpring's Web hosting service was awarded a "Best Buy" by Home Office
Computing Magazine in its April 1998 issue, which stated MindSpring has the
best combination of price, tools, support, and features. "We were very proud
to receive Home Office Computing's recommendation," said McQuary. "With our
new offering, we intend to further widen the gap between MindSpring and the
also-rans."
The additional plan was part of a restructuring of MindSpring's Web hosting
product line. "Our purpose was to provide the best possible Web hosting
service for a very competitive price," said Chris Atkins, MindSpring's
director of commercial product development. "We've simplified the plans by
making additional disk storage, bandwidth and optional features available a
la carte for nominal additional fees. In addition, we are beefing up our
infrastructure by adding new Digital Equipment Corporation Alpha servers,
which have proved to be among the fastest and most reliable for Web hosting
applications. We believe these machines will improve our already high server
uptime of 99.93%."
MindSpring's three Web hosting plans:
· QuickWebSM allows a Small Office Home Office (SOHO) customer to add
virtual domain hosting (www.companyname.com) to the Web space included with
most MindSpring dial-up accounts, for an additional $19.95/month. This
creates a complete Internet solution (Internet connectivity and virtual
domain hosting) for as little as $26.90/month.
· EnhancedWebSM is a low cost, feature rich plan offering SOHO customers
with interactive Web sites the flexibility of a large feature set: CGI
scripting, streaming RealSystem™ audio and video, Mercantec SoftCart™
electronic commerce software, and Microsoft FrontPage® support. Planned
future enhancements include POP3 email service, autoresponders, virtual FTP
support, statistical reporting, and database service. EnhancedWebSM costs
$49.95/month and includes 20 MB of disk storage space and 2 GB of
transmission bandwidth.
· CompleteWebSM offers Web design firms focused on site development and
other value-added resellers with a hosting service on a fast and reliable
network at a very competitive price. CompleteWebSM will also be attractive
to companies with high disk space or bandwidth requirements. CompleteWebSM
includes all of the features of EnhancedWebSM. Future additions include
HTML-based chat, a group calendar, enhanced statistical reporting, and an
electronic commerce site development wizard (including shopping cart, order
form, and payment integration). CompleteWebSM costs $99.95/month and
includes 50 MB of disk storage space and 6 GB of transmission bandwidth.
About MindSpring
MindSpring is a leading Internet service provider focusing on delivering
outstanding service and support to its customers. By following its core
values and beliefs, MindSpring is committed to doing an exceptional job of
serving its customers, its employees, its owners and its community.
MindSpring's dial-up subscribers can browse the World Wide Web, send
electronic mail, participate in informative on-line chats and access over
22,000 newsgroups. MindSpring offers local Internet service in more than 320
locations throughout the United States. MindSpring is also a leading
provider of Web Hosting services and domain registrations.
In November 1997, MindSpring earned CNET: The Computer Network's "Buy It"
recommendation as the best value national ISP. Ranking ISPs in December
1997, PC World named MindSpring the ISP with the best Customer Support,
noting MindSpring "gives its users the moon." Smart Money called MindSpring
"The Better Option" to AOL in February 1998. Upside Magazine said MindSpring
"understands the value of service, community and brand in the cold world of
the Net," in its February 1998 analysis of the top 150 technology companies
in the United States. MindSpring was given Home Office Computing's "Best
Buy" for Web Hosting in its April 1998 issue. To learn more about MindSpring
and its services, visit the web site at www.mindspring.com or call (800)
719-4332.
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