SlipStream Tells the World

With worldwide growth, and the validation of being acquired, SlipStream is here to stay.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [December 8, 2006]

When we spoke briefly with Ron Neumann, vice president of Waterloo, Ontario-based SlipStream, he was happy with the new owners of SlipStream, Research In Motion (RIM). Slipstream received press recognition at the time of the buy—see, for example, RIM Buys SlipStream to Juice Up BlackBerry.

Since both companies are based in the same Toronto suburb, no personnel have had to move. While we like to think of the internet as a global business, even for the smallest of companies, it makes sense to acquire companies that are local to you. Tucows found Critical Path easy to integrate in part because the piece of Critical Path that Tucows acquired is based in Toronto, Tucows' home base (see Tucows Says E-Mail is Critical).

SlipStream has had a good year, landing India's massive VSNL as a customer. The company is also doing well with ISPs serving mobile customers, announcing a customer in China, Shandong Satellite Communications, which is a subsidiary of one of China's six national telcos.

Although the company continues to win dialup business, it should have a clear advantage serving mobile ISPs in the future. As the world develops, we expect to see massive mobile networks in nations in which it would not be practical to build a wireline telecommunications infrastructure.

Nevertheless, when the company rolled out version 5.1 of its software last month, it reminded the world in its press release that it has 2,200 service provider customers.

The new software provides IE 7.0 and FireFox 2.0 compatibility, among other new features.

— End