Makes for interesting reading...

 


auDA accreditation enables Smartyhost to break sub-$50 barrier for .com.au
registration in Australia 

 


100 per cent growth rate and 20,000 customers places Smartyhost in market
top three

Sydney , 19 th July 2005 : Market leading web hosting services company,
Smartyhost, today announced it had qualified for auDA accreditation - one of
only 21 companies in Australia to do so - allowing the company to be the
first to create a new $49.95 price point for Australian businesses for
.com.au domain name registrations. 

With 20,000 customers, Smartyhost is one of the top three web hosting
companies in Australia, a market position Managing Director, Anoosh
Manzoori, attributes to the company's commitment to value, security and ease
of use. 

"Winning this hard-won award will turbo-boost our ability to provide the
best value for web hosting services in Australia ," Manzoori said. "Six
years ago I saw an opportunity to provide better value for web hosting here
and our extraordinary customer growth underlines that philosophy. Being able
to offer customers the credibility of a .com.au domain faster and at a less
cost than anyone else is another important step in delivering an easier way
to web." 

auDA accreditation will enable Smartyhost not only to offer a more
user-friendly and streamlined experience for customers and resellers, but
will mean Smartyhost will be the first company in Australia to offer .com.au
domains for less than $50 ($49.95 for two years). Furthermore, .com domains
will be available for only $19 a year. The auDA accreditation process
requires a very stringent set of tests of all systems including billing
processes, IT resilience, support infrastructure, complaints policies and
regulatory compliance. The process can take up to 12 months and cost a
six-figure sum in system upgrades. 

The announcement comes after seven months of intensive work to reach the
high standards set by the .au domain registration governing body; and comes
as Smartyhost signs its 20,000 th customer, placing the fast-growing web
hoster comfortably in the top three of the Australian Web Hosting market,
ahead of Telstra and Optus. 

The company has experienced stellar 100 per cent growth in the last 2 years,
rising quickly from market challenger to leader with a combination of
ease-of-use, visionary IT strategy, water-tight security and innovative
pricing models that have delivered value to the market that competitors have
struggled to match. An automated sales model, intuitive self-service
interface and limitlessly scalable capacity have delivered enviable customer
retention and growth. 

auDA Accreditation enables Smartyhost to now offer a comprehensive,
one-stop-shop service with some of the lowest prices in Australia for domain
registration, web site hosting, email address hosting and broadband internet
connection. 

Smartyhost's basic web hosting package includes a 150 MB Web Space and 150
Email Accounts for just $15/mth or $144/year making it ideal for the small
business sector. Consumer packages begin at only $20 per year. The ADSL
broadband internet service - at $60 per month with uncapped downloads -
significantly undercuts the market rate. Smartyhost is also able to offer
resellers a 35 per cent discount allowing considerable margin for the
channel. The self- service model is designed to be immediately intuitive,
built around a 'Control Panel' management structure that allows users to
easily manage their own sites