First Major Brazilian ISP Launches Accelerated Dial-Up Service
iG to Offer Propel® Accelerator to Over 11 million Subscribers
March 10, 2004, San Jose, CA, Propel Software Corporation today announced a distribution agreement with iG, (www.ig.com.br), one of Brazil's largest ISPs. Under the terms of the agreement, iG is now offering Propel Accelerator as part of its "Acesso Aditivado iG", which also includes a premium e-mail offering and additional dial-up access numbers.
"Although broadband adoption in Brazil is growing, the vast majority of our customers are choosing to stay with dial-up, either because of cost or lack of access," says Luiz Reali, director of the iG Data Center. "Through our Acesso Aditivado iG offering, powered by Propel, we are able to offer our customers a superior online experience, easing the pain of dial-up Web browsing."
After a comprehensive process of testing and analysis, iG selected Propel based on several key factors. "Propel was the clear choice for us, as they were the fastest in terms of download time and overall performance of the product," added Reali. "Additionally, Propel was able to localize for our market, and offer features that were important to us, such as ad blocking and e-mail acceleration."
"iG has shown itself to be very progressive by being the first service provider in Brazil to offer such a rich offering of subscriber services," said Scott Sorochak, Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Propel. "We are thrilled to be partnering with iG, bringing high speed dial-up to their millions of subscribers."
Acesso Aditivado iG is available for R$9.90 a month, which includes acceleration, premium e-mail, additional access numbers and online support; and R$15.90, which adds twenty-four hour telephone support.
About Propel
Propel Software, an innovator in Web acceleration, was founded in 1999 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Kirsch, who also founded Web search engine and portal Infoseek (acquired by The Walt Disney Company), authoring and publishing developer Frame Technology (acquired by Adobe Systems Incorporated) 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 600 million Internet users globally: slow Internet connections. Propel Accelerator speeds up Web browsing up to 5 times by using patent-pending compression, caching and connection optimization techniques. Most recently, Propel Accelerator continues solving frustrations by incorporating the blocking of unwanted pop-up and in-page advertising.
Since its launch in 2002, Propel Accelerator has been deployed by over 100 Internet and network service providers in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the United States - serving over 20 million subscribers - including EarthLink (NASDAQ: ELNK), PeoplePC Online in the US; and has signed over 500 reseller and affiliates, such as 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.
