From owner-freebsd-isp Mon Jun 17 21:06:14 1996 Return-Path: owner-isp Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id VAA23060 for isp-outgoing; Mon, 17 Jun 1996 21:06:14 -0700 (PDT) Received: from avalon.imagixx.net (root@avalon.imagixx.net [206.31.232.1]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id VAA23053 for ; Mon, 17 Jun 1996 21:06:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [206.31.232.10] (mgb.imagixx.net [206.31.232.10]) by avalon.imagixx.net (8.6.12/8.6.9) with SMTP id AAA04460 for ; Tue, 18 Jun 1996 00:00:05 -0400 Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 00:00:05 -0400 X-Sender: bayerle@avalon.imagixx.net Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: freebsd-isp@freebsd.org From: bayerle@auidea.org (Martin G. Bayerle) Subject: ISP Trade Association Sender: owner-isp@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- To all Internet Service Providers: Organizations which address the technical issues of internet service such as protocols and technological standards, have existed for some time, but none yet exist to address the business issues which confront the small to medium-sized Internet Service Provider. The business environment for Internet Service Providers is increasingly volatile; for the smallest ISPs, it is even hostile. In the months ahead we will see mergers, acquisitions, scalebacks, and even bankruptcies as the industry sheds itself of its weakest players, those who are least able to provide the consumer with competitive services at reasonable prices. The challenges which face the smaller ISPs include their inability to provide their customers with worldwide access, their relatively weak promotional capabilities, and their inability to gather timely and accurate business-related information, such as economic and market data, which could assist them with outside financing and strategic planning decisions. The Internet Development and Exchange Association's (IDEA) mission is to meet these challenges, and others, which now confront the ISP industry. 1. If this e-mail is misdirected and you are not an ISP, for statistical survey purposes, could you please return e-mail with only the following in the message body: "I am NOT an ISP" and accept our apologies. IDEA is a representative body staffed and managed by business professionals and academicians, with a membership comprised of independent owner/operators within the Internet Service Provider industry. We ask all of you to participate in our first annual survey of small to mid-sized local and regional Internet Service Providers - for mutual benefit. For additional information about IDEA, its goals, its services, and its creators see the Association homepage at http://www.auidea.org . Our overall inquiry actually concerns two surveys. The first survey is a relatively short questionnaire called the State of the Industry Executive Opinion Survey (which should take you approximately 10 minutes to complete). It is designed to help us assess the mood of the industry. What are the most important business issues confronting the small to medium-sized ISP and how can an association address these issues? An Executive Summary of this survey will be made freely available at our website http://www auidea.org . The second survey is longer, but more critical, than the first (and should take you approximately 25 minutes to complete). This survey, which we call the Day One Survey, is a benchmark study of the Internet Service Provider industry. This survey is designed to help provide answers to many of the questions frequently posed by bankers and other investors. Where does your firm stand with respect to the rest of the industry? This comparison between your ISP and the industry can be made on many levels. For many of these comparisons, no reliable statistics are currently available. Banks and investors usually equate lack of information with risk so we hope that providing sound financial information for comparative purposes will help them lower their risk and increase their willingness to invest in measurably sound ventures. Also, lack of comparative information makes it impossible for you to make fully informed strategic decisions. After all, the technology is only half of what ISPs need to know - ISPs also need to be aware of the market and economic conditions that determine the viability of the investment. Your survey participation and specific data will be held in absolute trust and confidence. The survey's results, however, are essential for industry growth as well as your company's short and long-term planning. You may choose to participate in either or both surveys. For reasons of fairness, those ISPs who choose to participate in BOTH surveys will receive a complete copy of "The ISP Report:1996" AT NO COST via ftp (the complete details of this offer are stipulated within the survey). For anyone who chooses not to participate in the survey, but who would like to examine the results of the survey, "The ISP Report:1996," will be available for sale from the Internet Development and Exchange Association. Although the selling price of the finished report has not yet been determined, comparable industry analyses often sell for several thousand dollars. However, an Executive Summary will be made publicly available at no charge at our website http://www.auidea.org . 2. If you are an ISP and wish to participate in the survey, you can do so one of two ways: a. by sending an e-mail to survey@auidea.org for an autoresponder of both surveys; or b. by completing the surveys on-line at our website http://www.auidea.org , and accept our thanks and the thanks of many other ISPs for your participation. Please note that the State of the Industry Executive Opinion Survey and the Day One Survey are both available via either e-mail or our web site. If you request the surveys via e-mail, a copy of both surveys will be returned to you as two separate e-mails by our autoresponder. The instructions for both are contained within the introduction to the State of the Industry Executive Opinion Survey. Each of the two surveys is approximately 20k. You may choose to complete and submit either one or both surveys. If you are an ISP and you complete BOTH surveys you will be entitled to a complete copy of "The ISP Report:1996" at no charge. 3. If you are an ISP but do NOT wish to participate in the survey, for statistical purposes, could you please return e-mail with only the following in the message body: "I AM an ISP but do not wish to participate in the survey." and accept our thanks for enabling us to increase the statistical accuracy of the survey. Sincerely yours, Lutfus Sayeed, PhD Survey Project Director Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems West Virginia University Martin G. Bayerle, MBA Executive Director, IDEA bayerle@auidea.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMcXzdDbYzhQwFkNZAQETUwP/Rdp3n+6yrSjFVdUBSiW3vSMx5B27izzO ed2hYXciocQ9mfew/B4SXioLdSeo8/iU0osUTuQPctZjoYUKrE7JYbAFeOqdY+mY S997sOB0qJhjSQD8d1cZvoGsFFVNMKJvtkDXuv5nvptKf2CUcyHTWYIeK+tYwUhk oqPEIT2Epf8= =89PY -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----