One on One With Andreas Gauger

Topic: Web Hosting Interviews |

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TH: When did 1&1 enter the hosting market?

AG: 1&1 was founded in 1988 by Ralph Dommermuth and positioned in 1992 together with German Telekom AG T-Online as a universal and modern online service. T-Online became Europe’s largest ISP as far as customers are concerned, and 1&1 acquired millions of customers for T-Online. Hosting services were started in 1995 with Schlund + Partner. This company merged in 1999 with 1&1 Telekommunikations GmbH, and became 1&1 Internet AG.
TH: How has 1&1 differentiated itself from other companies in web hosting?
AG: 1&1 always offered a one-stop-shop. Customers got all they needed to build their own Web site including hardware, a software bundle, Internet access, and services for a very affordable price. 1&1 products are extremely competitive in the marketplace.

TH: What type of customer …SME, mid-market, or enterprise…is your primary target?

AG: SMEs as well as private customers. Even big international companies use 1&1 services because of its unbeatable prices and reliability with more than 99 percent availability guaranteed.

TH: How important is web hosting to the company overall? How does it fit into the company’s overall strategy?

AG: Web hosting is profitable and successful and therefore very important for the company. It has formed the 1&1 image as an innovator. It fits in perfectly with our other services such as domain registration, ISP, and ASP.

TH: What types of services are you seeing the most demand for today?

AG: Web-based solutions that make working easy.

TH: How would you describe the web hosting market in Germany? Who are your biggest competitors?

AG: The biggest competitor is Strato, a subsidiary of Teles AG, listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. They used to be market-leader. Nowadays they are number 2 in the market behind 1&1, and still have about a 32 percent market share. But, 1&1 is registering nearly twice as many domains every month than they are. Strato lost its reputation due to a lack of reliability. US-based via Networks tried to enter the German market by taking over some good competitors. According to their domain base, their market share remains static at some 5 percent. German Telekom has about 2.5 percent, all other competitors have remained under 2 percent. 1&1 hosts more than a third of all German registered domains.
TH: What future trends do you see in web hosting in Germany and in Europe?

AG: There will be some American web hosting giants that will try to enter the market, like Verisign is doing now. But it will be very hard for them to compete with the prices we have in Europe, and especially in Germany. 1&1 for example, offers a dedicated host with full service for less than a third of what would be considered a good price in America.

TH: What are 1&1’s future plans for the UK?

AG: We will solidify our new subsidiary in Great Britain, 1&1 Internet Limited. It started pretty well in last summer and is now already number 8 in the market, according to British domain registrations. We want to be one of the top 5 players in the UK market. We are proud that 1&1 Internet Limited was “Winner of Best Webhost 2001″ at Future UK Internet Awards. This encourages us to continue our focus in this market.

As Seen On: “Tophosts.com - Complete Web Hosting Resource”