First Major Australian ISP Launches Accelerated Dial-Up Service
Primus Telecom to Offer Propel¬ Accelerator to Over 400,000 Subscribers
San Jose, CA January 20, 2004, Propel Software Corporation today announced a distribution agreement with Primus Telecom's Internet Service Provider, iPrimus. Under the terms of the agreement, iPrimus is now offering fast Internet dial service subscribers, deploying Propel¬ Accelerator under the name iSpeed to more than 400,000 Australian customers of iPrimus. Awarded Editor's Choice on CNET and reviewed in the Washington Post, San Jose Mercury and others, Propel¬ Accelerator speeds up the browsing experience by up to five times times.
"Not everyone is ready to make the jump to broadband," says Primus Telecom General Manager Product Development, Product Management and Strategy, Campbell Sallabank. "Through our iSpeed offering, powered by Propel, we are able to dramatically improve our customers' experience of the Internet without the high cost of broadband."
After a comprehensive process of testing and analysis, Primus Telecom selected Propel based on several key factors. "Most importantly, Propel is the fastest accelerator we could find on the market," added Sallabank. "Secondly, Propel has a solid track record of successful international deployments. These factors combined with the speed of deployment and private labeling option made Propel the natural choice for us."
"Primus Telecom is a dominant player in the Telecom and ISP marketplace and is committed to providing the best possible Internet experience for their customers," said Scott Sorochak, Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Propel Software. "We are thrilled that Primus Telecom has chosen to offer Propel Accelerator as a means of alleviating the pain of slow Web browsing."
iSpeed is available for A$8.95 a month in addition to the standard monthly dial-up fee and will be available on all iPrimus dial-up plans. iSpeed will also be available as a bundled offering with Primus Telecom's latest anti- email virus and email spam service, iProtect, for a total of A$10.95 a month.
How Propel Accelerator Works
Based on a client/server architecture, Propel Accelerator speeds up first page visits using patent-pending compression techniques and optimized TCP/IP connections. Subsequent page visits are further accelerated using multi-tiered caching technology that can accelerate both static and dynamic content by leveraging common page fragments shared across repeat visits to dynamic pages. These techniques result in significantly fewer bytes being transmitted.
About Primus Telecom
Primus Telecom is Australia's fourth largest fixed-line telecommunications carrier with approximately 750,000 retail customers including over 400,000 Internet customers. The Company offers a comprehensive range of voice, data, Internet and Web hosting products, servicing both residential and business sectors. The Primus network offers nationwide coverage through its own backbone network with facilities in 73 cities across Australia. The network enables the Company to provide nationwide long distance competition and local call Internet access to 97% of the population. Primus operates its own fibre network in the five major capital cities, delivering a range of business direct-connect services including ISDN, ATM and Broadband DSL. Global connectivity is provided through an extensive voice, IP and ATM network operated by the parent company, Virginia-based Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated (NASDAQ:PRTL). Primus Australia news and information are available at the Company's Web site at www.primustel.com.au.
PRIMUS Telecommunications Group, Incorporated (NASDAQ:PRTL) is a global facilities-based telecommunications services provider offering international and domestic voice, Internet, data and hosting services to business and residential retail customers and other carriers located primarily in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and western Europe. PRIMUS provides services over its global network of owned and leased transmission facilities, including approximately 250 points-of-presence (POPs) throughout the world, ownership interests in over 23 undersea fiber optic cable systems, 19 carrier-grade international gateway and domestic switches, and a variety of operating relationships that allow it to deliver traffic worldwide. PRIMUS also has deployed a global state-of-the-art broadband fiber optic ATM+IP network and data centers to offer customers Internet, data, hosting and e-commerce services. Founded in 1994, PRIMUS is based in McLean, Virginia.
About Propel
Propel Software, an innovator in Web acceleration, was founded in November 1999 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Kirsch, who also founded Web search engine and portal Infoseek (acquired by Walt Disney Company), authoring and publishing developer Frame Technology (acquired by Adobe Systems) and computer peripheral pioneer Mouse Systems Corporation.
Propel's mission is to solve the frustrations of using the Internet. The first of these is a problem that affects approximately 585 million Internet users globally: slow dial-up Internet connections. Propel Accelerator speeds up dial-up Web browsing by up to 5 times using patent-pending compression, caching and connection optimization techniques. With recently added features, Propel Accelerator now solves the frustration of unwanted pop-up and in-page advertising by combining dial-up acceleration with world-class pop-up and ad blocking technology.
Since its launch in 2002, Propel Accelerator has been downloaded by over 500,000 end-users; deployed by over 100 Internet and network service providers in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the United States - serving over 8 million subscribers - including EarthLink, CyberSurf and Tutopia; and has signed over 500 reseller and affiliates, including U.S. Robotics. Propel Accelerator has received critical acclaim from Silicon Valley's Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, and has been named "Editor's Choice" by both CNET and ZDNet. Propel is located in San Jose, California. Visit Propel at www.propel.com.
