Fastline

Norwegian hosting company Fastline has established itself as a leading hosting provider in Norway through a commitment to offering the best technology, flexible solutions and a high level of customer service.

Fastline relies on OpenSRS to provide easy access to domain registrations, allowing them to streamline operations and stay competitive in a very challenging market.

Fastline offers hosting, email, security and other Internet services to a wide range of customers including individuals, small and mid-sized businesses and larger enterprise customers. The company is based in Haugesund, on the west coast of Norway.

David Lie is Fastline's CEO. He says that while the company is based in Norway, they look outside the country for customers as well. Fastline operates from data centres in Norway, as well as in the Netherlands for their international customers.

"As a Internet hosting company we have customers all over the planet. But our main focus is in Norway, Sweden and Denmark," he says.

OpenSRS Reseller Since 2001

Fastline became an OpenSRS Reseller in 2001. Lie says they chose OpenSRS because they could get a wide range of TLDs in one place.

"OpenSRS offered reasonable prices and many TLDs which is very important for use and allows us to use the same provider for the most of our domains," says Lie.

A fairly unique challenge that Fastline faces is the complexity of the .no domain extension. Registration of .no domains is restricted to Norwegian companies and each company can register no more than 100 .no domains.

The involved process of registering .no domains is something that Fastline has to deal with and is part of the high level of customer service and expertise that they offer.

Norway's Competitive Business Landscape

Like most countries, hosting is a very competitive business in Norway. Lie says that in the early days there were a lot of providers, but that over time only the strongest and best have survived.

"People look for those companies who have been around the longest when looking for a provider," he says. "Of course cost is a big concern, so in addition to the quality of service, customers look for a provider that is good and inexpensive."

Lie says being able to streamline operations, like handling most domain registrations through OpenSRS, is key in being able to offer that high level of service while also keeping costs down.

For Fastline, offering better service also includes making effective use of social media as part of their marketing and customer service efforts.

"Social media is very important part of doing business today," says Lie. "You get more personal contact with your customers, and they get to 'know' your company in a better and more honest way also I think."

Lie says Fastline looks forward to a continued positive partnership with OpenSRS. He says the company likes the new OpenSRS Control Panel and looks forward to the continued development of the platform as well as the addition of new features and ccTLDs.