PureSpeed's perspective on wholesale dialup is unique: Access to consumers is the company's focus, and nationwide dialup connectivity is just part of the plan.

by Jeff Goldman [February 19, 2003]

PureSpeed was created two years ago as the Internet access division of Fin Communications, developed to offer wholesale dialup access. Jim Finneran, the company's CEO, explains that PureSpeed differentiates itself from other wholesale dialup providers by taking a very different perspective on the market.

The point, Finneran says, is that it's hard to create a unique wholesale offering based on dialup access alone. "What's behind our company is access to consumers," Finneran said. "For example, we're about to launch a VISP product with Publishers Clearing House, and we're not just launching dial access with them; we're providing a whole lot of other products and services reaching the same consumers."

PureSpeed Voice: (877) 441-0880 sales@purespeed.com

PureSpeed doesn't just work with companies like Publishers Clearing House; they also have many traditional ISPs as customers. But Finneran says the aim of all of PureSpeed's offerings is the same: reaching the end user. "Our business model is predicated on access to consumers," he said. "Wholesale dialup access is just one way to get to consumers and sell them lots of different products and services."

As part of the Publishers Clearing House offering, users will receive an entry into the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes every day they log onto the Internet. That requires a specific kind of support, which Finneran says has been a focus of PureSpeed's efforts. "We've spent the last nine months building all kinds of things that they wanted specifically for their particular service," he said.

Benefits for ISPs
Traditional ISPs can also benefit from this kind of arrangement. "We have a deal with Publishers Clearing House to offer DSL," Finneran said. "Maybe they want to offer it in Iowa, and there might not be anybody there except some local ISPs who are providing DSL—so we'll set up a deal with them so they can sell DSL services to us for Publishers Clearing House."

Similarly, ISPs can get paid to provide offerings from PureSpeed's other customers to their own users. "We offer wholesale long distance services, and we're doing prepaid phone cards," Finneran said. "We can go to the ISPs and say, 'We have these products and services; do you want to offer them on a commission basis?'"

Particularly in the current economy, Finneran says, it's crucial to make as much money as possible from the customers you already have. "We're all only going to make so much money on a dialup customer, in particular," he said. "So how do you increase the value of that particular customer? Well, you sell them more products and services."

Finneran is also quick to explain that PureSpeed does not compete with its ISP customers. While the site's main page offers retail dialup access, Finneran says the retail ISP is maintained only as a backup for the company's ISP customers. "We get customers who can't pay their bills sometimes," he said. "They get out of the business, and they say, 'I can't pay you, but I'll give you my users.'"

In those cases, PureSpeed supports the customers for a while, then sells them to another ISP. "We're not competing with anybody," Finneran said. "We don't go out and market our retail business. We want to be able to reach through the ISPs to their consumers. When we do that, the ISP benefits, because they'll get some of the money we make by accessing those consumers and selling other products and services."

Combining networks
PureSpeed's wholesale dialup offering includes over 7,000 POPs on networks including MegaPOP, Aleron, Level 3, Allegiance, and ICG, among others. Each carrier can be accessed individually or in groups. Two new offerings, which the company calls Olympus and Titan, provide access to groups of networks with no setup fees and no roaming fees.

Pricing for the services is volume-based, with a lot of flexibility in terms of structure. "One of the things we feel is unique about us is that we sell pretty much every way you might want to buy," Finneran said. "I can sell you hourly, I can sell you on an aggregate contract, or I can sell you on a per user contract. Most people who have a carrier contract can't do that."

Finneran says PureSpeed now has customers using every possible pricing structure—and they're open to change, as well. "We've had people switch," he said. "Maybe I've got a customer who's going to buy another ISP with 10,000 users, but today he has 2,000. We might start him off on one product, and when he completes his purchase, we'll let him flip into a different product that fits his particular usage."

PureSpeed doesn't publish its pricing, though it does start all negotiations with a standard rate. "Unless you have a significant user base, we pretty much hit you with a standard price," Finneran said. "For example, we sell UUNET at $6.50 per user, 185 hours per user. We're selling Olympus unlimited at $7.00 a user. But everything in this business is negotiable."

The company requires payment in advance for all services—which Finneran says is just common sense in this industry. "We've learned the hard way," he said. "Anybody who's offering wholesale services on a postpaid basis has got a problem. We've got some guys on post-pay who are multinational companies; that's not a problem. But if you're a little ISP with 12 users, you're pre-pay."

Strong support
The fact that PureSpeed has built its own proprietary back office technology, Finneran says, has been crucial in attracting customers like Publishers Clearing House. "The nice thing about that is that we can customize it at will for our customers," he said. "It's integrated with Rockstar, UsefulWare, and some of the other dialer programs, so people can do online signup with their CDs."

Dan Polk is Vice President of Business Relations for Xcellacom, an ISP in Fells Point, Maryland which offers retail ISP services to end users, and also resells PureSpeed's offering as a VISP package. They began working with PureSpeed about a year and a half ago, Polk says, after a lot of shopping around.

According to Polk, one of PureSpeed's strongest selling points is its technical support. "I can call somebody any time, and their level of service is absolutely incredible," he said. "That's the thing I like the most: I pick up the phone and call somebody with a problem, and it gets fixed right away. That's very important for little ISPs; it's how you hang on to your customer base."

Polk adds that PureSpeed's eagerness to collaborate with its ISP customers is another enormous asset. "They're always bouncing ideas off of us," he said. "Jim Finneran will call me and say, 'I'm having a problem with a carrier and I'm calling my ISPs to figure out how to make it better. What do you think?' He just cares wholeheartedly for his customers, which is pretty rare in this business."

— End

Related articles:
	[June 21, 2002]	Renewed Interest In Dial-up Surprises Old-Timers
	[March 16, 2001]	Va-Va-VISP
	[June 2, 2000]	Building an ISP Business Plan Part 4: Operating & Organizational Plans

Online resource:
	Wholesale Dialup Directory