Intekom, the Telkom-owned second tier Internet service provider (ISP), has launched a flashy new portal. The new site uses Flash 4 technology to add visual bells and whistles to its common portal offering.
An HTML, Java and CGI version will remain for more pedestrian users. Although slightly less functional, the Flash version is far more interesting graphically and offers some distinct advantages to the designers.
"We want this to be a showcase for Intekom," says sales and marketing executive Donna Veile.
The site will be database driven and dynamically updated several times a day. Partners Woza Internet and I-net Bridge will supply the majority of the content. The company expects one million impressions per month on the site (www.intekom.co.za) by March, and a million more on its search site, Aardvark.
It recently joined the Audit Bureau for Internet Standards, which will audit page impressions.
Aardvark (www.aardvark.co.za) will have its own re-launch in November with a new look and feel.
Intekom MD Matthew Roesner says Aardvark will eventually be positioned as a portal for non-Intekom clients, while parts of the Intekom portal, specifically those relating to online support, will be closed to non-clients. Billing and other information will be available on this portion.
Intekom says it is the third biggest ISP in the country, with 25 000 subscribers. Roesner says that only about 40% of new customers are new to the Internet, with the other 60% switching over from other ISPs. He also says the new portal is partly an effort to retain customers. The majority of people, he says, do not know how to change their default homepage. "We don`t want them to change to M-Web to have that as their default page because they don`t know any better."
Roesner says the timing of the re-design, following closely on the heels of similar moves by the likes of M-Web and iAfrica, is pure coincidence. "We looked at our offering and decided we had to change it."
The company has also changed its pricing structure, with packages ranging from R49 to R149 depending on usage. Apart from these packages, it will also offer a customised option, which will allow users to specify the exact amount of access time needed.
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