Some registrars accommodate even the smallest ISP that merely dabbles in hosting and design services—like this local telco in the "Beehive State" that figured out how to lure partners its way with a honey of a deal.

by Jeff Goldman [February 12, 2001]

Update: Acquired by DomainDiscover.

The Utah-based registrar AWRegistry, accredited by ICANN in September 1999, offers two different partnership options for ISPs. The registrar, which currently boasts about 80 ISP partners, is a division of the venerable Salt Lake City telco.

All West Communications was founded in the early 1900s, and currently provides telephone and Internet services to northern Utah and parts of Wyoming. Phil Marchant, AWRegistry marketing manager, explains that offering registrar services was a logical step in the company’s evolution from pure-play voice to data communication services.

"All West Communications, like a lot of telcos, has gone into the ISP business," Marchant said. "Mostly it’s just Internet access—we do a little bit of Webhosting, but not a lot. Some of our people that work in the Internet department gave us the heads-up about the accreditation process for domain registration, and we applied."

Mike Brown, AWRegistry Project manager, noted that the company's voice and data divisions are operated independently, in order to minimize any concerns for ISP partners.

"We try to keep it separate, so that we’re not competing at all with ISPs on the AWRegistry side," Brown said. "The All West side is fairly local to northern Utah and Wyoming, and the registry doesn't do any hosting or Internet services at all."

Two sizes fits all
AWRegistry offers two different partnership deals for ISPs, each with its own distinct benefits.

On February 1st, AWRegistry debuted its MyDotPartner program, a simple domain name registration solution that should be a very attractive option to smaller ISPs that also provide Web design and hosting services.

Partners are given access to a page that looks a lot like AWRegistry’s site, but it is co-branded with the ISP company's logo. MyDotPartner ISPs can charge any rate they like to their customers, and all billing is handled by AWRegistry. The difference between AWRegistry’s bulk rate and the fee paid by the customer is then returned to the partner as a commission for each domain name registered.

The second partnership arrangement offers a more economical option for larger ISPs—partners use email templates to forward domain name information directly into the AWRegistry system. These ISP partners register domains in bulk with AWRegistry and then handle all the front end processing, including the billing. As an alternative to the email templates, a TCP/IP interface is planned for implementation within the next few months.

Brown notes that the email setup usually ensures a better rate for ISPs than the MyDotPartner program.

"The main reason for that is because it’s all prepaid," Brown said. "They’re going to pay for a block of domain names at one time on a prepaid basis. That ensures our volume, and therefore, we can give them a lower rate. We have a schedule that’s used as a guideline, but we’re always open to negotiations."

All users who register domains with AWRegistry can access the site’s domain management interface, which allows for simplified domain transfers as well as online modification of domain information.

An accommodating telco
AWRegistry seems more willing than most registrars to negotiate customized pricing agreements with its ISP partners. For those using email templates, there is no official rate structure—pricing is negotiated on an individual basis with each ISP partner.

For the MyDotPartner program, the default arrangement is $20 retail and $16 wholesale, resulting in a $4 commission per domain. Discounts are given for multi-year registrations, and with increased volume, the MyDotPartner pricing decreases (right).

The registrar also offers an additional discount when registrants opt for securing a dot-com trifecta. The deal is simple, register a .com Domain Name for two years at $70 and receive the .net and .org extensions of the same domain for at $60.00 each.

There are two caveats; in order to receive the discounted rate, the .net and .org extensions must be purchased at the same time. Also, ISP partners should be aware that AWRegistry charges $25 to transfer domain names, something an Internet service needs to compensate for in its own registry services.

Clean and distinct
The AWRegistry site itself is extremely simple, with no banners and few graphics. As Marchant explains, the company is determined to keep it that way.

"There’s many Webhosting companies and Web-based businesses that have asked us if we’d be interested in placing one of their banners on our site," he said. "But we have a policy to not compete with our web hosting customers, so we keep our site very clean. It’s very easy to navigate, because it’s nothing but domain registration. There’s not a lot of distractions on it, and we want to keep it that way."

"We do have an ICANN requirement that the accredited registrar be disclosed," Brown said. "So we can never really totally get away from disclosing that we’re the back end." And should an ISP’s customer visit the AWRegistry site to check out their new registrar, they won’t find any competing services offered.

AWRegistry leverages all the benefits that come with being part of a larger operation, while keeping each division separate. The registrar uses All West Communications’ Salt Lake City call center to run their 24/7 toll-free support line for domain name services.

— End