July 28, 2008; 09:39 AM
TORONTO and CHICAGO, HostingCon 2008, July 28 - Tucows Inc.,
(AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) a leading provider of Internet services to web hosting
companies and ISPs worldwide, announced today the return of the OpenSRS name
for its wholesale reseller services group. Through its network of web hosting
companies and Internet service providers, OpenSRS provides web and email
addresses for millions of people worldwide.
In 1999, Tucows became the first domain name wholesaler to be accredited
by ICANN and chose the name OpenSRS for its domain name service. Today,
OpenSRS remains one of the world's largest wholesale domain registrars, and
has expanded its offerings to include hosted email and SSL certificates.
Resellers' sustained loyalty to OpenSRS was one reason behind the decision to
re-launch the brand, and key to that loyalty is the company's reputation as
the most reseller-friendly among Internet services wholesalers.
"At OpenSRS, we really believe in supporting our resellers because
they've been incredibly supportive of us. That means not only making it easy
to sell, provision and support the highest quality Internet services, but it
also means being true to our word," said Ken Schafer, Vice President of
Product Management and Marketing for Tucows. "We've made a commitment to being
reseller friendly, so much so that we've included it in our new logo."
Over the past nine years, OpenSRS has grown steadily each year and today
boasts over 9,000 active resellers on six continents. Those resellers, in
turn, have the potential to reach millions of end users. OpenSRS resellers are
fiercely loyal, 78% of the resellers who joined in 1999 are still using
OpenSRS to sell services today.
OpenSRS is known for its work on registrant rights within the registrar
community as well as making things simple and reliable for its resellers. It
also differentiates itself through a deep commitment to its identity as a
wholesale business. This runs in sharp contrast to competitors that frequently
end up competing with their own resellers for customers.
"We're a true Internet services wholesaler. You won't find our name or
logo anywhere on our end-user interfaces and we don't talk to our reseller's
customers, ever," said Schafer. "We stand by our promises and commitments and
we work to earn our reseller's loyalty."
As part of the re-launch of OpenSRS, the company has established new
brand marks and a logo consistent with a 1950s-era service company, aimed at
recalling a time when service mattered most. An iconic character has also been
created to embody OpenSRS' core values - service, friendliness, willingness to
help, community service and reliability.
To celebrate the re-launch of the OpenSRS brand and mark a return to the
bygone days of service with a smile, OpenSRS will be serving up treats from an
old-fashioned soda fountain and ice cream stand in booth No.626 at
HostingCon 2008, at Navy Pier in Chicago from today through Wednesday.
About OpenSRS OpenSRS is a global provider of wholesale Internet services to web
hosting companies and ISPs. Wholly owned by Tucows, Inc., OpenSRS provides
wholesale services for hosted email, domain name registration, Personal Names,
and SSL certificates. For more information, please visit http://opensrs.com.
About Tucows Tucows provides Internet services for web hosting companies and
ISPs.Through our global network of over 9,000 service providers our OpenSRS
group provides millions of email boxes and manages over eight million domains.
Tucows is an accredited registrar with ICANN (the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers). We hold a domain name portfolio of approximately
150,000 domain names that are available for sale, monetized through
advertising and support our wholesale Personal Names Service. Our Retail
division sells Tucows services to consumers and small business owners through
Domain Direct, IYD (It's Your Domain) and NetIdentity. Tucows.com remains one
of the most popular software download sites on the Internet. For more
information please visit: http://tucowsinc.com.
|