Leading wholesaler of Internet services also celebrating 10 year anniversary
TORONTO, CANADA, March 10, 2004 — Tucows Inc. (OTCBB:TCOW), announced today that it now has more than 4 million domain names under management. It is the first competitive registrar to reach this milestone since the end of the monopoly on providing registrar services for .com, .net and .org.
“We have our resellers to thank for this achievement,” said Tucows’ President and CEO, Elliot Noss. “Reaching this important milestone is further proof of the success of our wholesale Internet services business and our reseller’s success in providing ongoing value to their customers.”
Tucows created the wholesale domain name registration business early in 2000 and its reseller channel quickly grew to include more than 6,000 ISPs and webhosting companies in more than 100 countries. Tucows believes this channel represents one of the most important distribution channels in the Internet economy. Tucows has continually expanded the range of wholesale services available to its resellers to include thirteen top-level domains, digital certificates, email and managed DNS.
“From the beginning, our focus has been to develop a strong, sustainable relationship with webhosting companies and ISPs that service small and medium-sized businesses,” continued Noss. “In spite of the challenges faced by the Internet industry in the last three years, this group has continued to grow and profit.”
A recent study has validated Tucows’ vision. The in-house study, conducted in the fourth quarter of 2003, shows that Tucows enjoys high retention rates and revenue growth rates for resellers: 86% of the resellers who joined Tucows in 2000 were still active in 2003, and the majority of these resellers sold more Tucows services in 2003 than in 2000.
“Reaching 4 million names under management in 2004 is especially satisfying,” concluded Noss. “This year is also the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Tucows shareware/freeware download site. In an industry known for its high customer churn, and, given the particularly challenging environment the Internet industry faced over the last three years, it is notable that Tucows has achieved both longevity and continued growth.”
About Tucows
Tucows Inc. is a leading wholesaler of Internet services to a global network of more than 6,000 resellers such as ISPs and web hosting companies. Tucows provides a range of outsourced Internet services and products, including: domain name registration and management, digital certificates, managed DNS, and email services. The company is the largest ICANN-accredited wholesale domain name registrar. Tucows also distributes software and other digital content through its global network of affiliates offering more than 40,000 software titles. For more information, please visit: http://www.tucowsinc.com.
Contact:
Jacqueline Cook
Director Marketing
Tucows Inc.
jcook@tucows.com
416-538-5450
This news release contains, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. More information about potential factors that could affect Tucows is included in the Risk Factors sections of Tucows’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based on information available to Tucows as of the date of this document, and Tucows assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
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