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newsletter://mv.com
April 2002
Referral credits
In previous newsletters we've occasionally mentioned that we give
referral credits for new accounts recommended our customers. We have
recently formalized the referral credit details. We've increased the the
existing credits, and we've added credits for most of the other types of
accounts we offer.
If you're a happy MV customer, let's help each other out. Check out
the referral information on our web page. Go to http://www.mv.com/ and
pull down the "For MV Users Only" bar -- select the "referral credits" item
and click on the corresponding "Go" button. Also remember that we have a
web site at http://home.mv.net/ that is dedicated to providing information
for MV customers. You can find the referral credit information there as
well.
Somewhat related: in an earlier newsletter we had suggested that DSL
customers could go to dslreports (http://www.dslreports.com/) and enter an
honest review about your MV DSL service. We were embarassed to be informed
that our dslreports listing was offline. We've corrected this.
Specials
We have a number of new and continuing promotional specials running from
now through the end of June. The full details are on our web page at
www.mv.com, but here's a summary.
DSL/V: get a new DSL/V account (using your existing Verizon voice line),
and we'll take $80 off of the cost of the modem if you purchase the modem
through us. For a total install cost of $135 you can be up and running on
this high-speed DSL service. (Note that you'll also need an ethernet card
in your computer.)
DSL/C: get a new residential or business DSL/C account (using a newly
installed line dedicated to the DSL service) and we'll apply the $100 setup
fee to your account.
Dialup: Sign up for a new dialup IP account, and when we receive your $25
deposit we will credit the entire amount to your account (ordinarily $10 is
used for a setup fee and we credit the remaining $15 to your account). Not
only that, but we will credit an additional non-refundable $25 to your
account. Your $25 deposit will get you $50 worth of credit against future
billing.
Web package: Sign up for a new IP account and new exclusive web account,
and you need only send in the $25 deposit for the IP account. Our normal
$30 setup fee for the exclusive web server will be waived. (See the next
section for more about the "exclusive" server.) Not only that, but if you
register a new domain at the same time, using MV's domain registration ser-
vice, we will give you a $12 credit to your account -- this will cover the
first year's registration fee for a domain in many of the top level
domains, including .COM, .ORG, .INFO, and .US. (Note that various top
level domains have different fee structures.)
And for current customers:
Web upgrade package: Do you have a normal (non-dormant) dialup account with
MV? We'll make a similar web package offer to you. Sign up for an exclu-
sive web server and send in the $30 setup fee and we will credit the entire
setup fee to your account. Further, if you need to register a new domain
name for the exclusive web server, we will give your account a $12 credit
to be applied to the domain registration fee if you use our domain regis-
tration service.
Exclusive Web Server companion rate reduced
An "exclusive" web server at MV gives you your own web name for your
domain. Instead of having a standard MV web page address like
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/example/, your web site will have your own domain
name and thus have a URL like http://www.example.com/. If you don't have
your own domain name, perhaps now is the time -- we can make it easy for
you.
Our rate for an exclusive web server, $30/month, was discounted by
$5/month when combined with a normal (non-dormant) dialup account. As of
May 1, 2002, we are increasing this companion discount to $10 -- adding an
exclusive web server to your normal dialup account is now an increase of
only $20/month.
Domain names
MV is an affiliate of the OpenSRS domain registry and we can register
many kinds of domain names for you. We've recently passed the one-year
anniversary of this affiliation and are very pleased with it. Our goal
with this relationship is not to be in the domain business, but to provide
domain registration services for our customers on better terms and with
better operation than before.
.US: Registration for second-level .US domains is now out of the ini-
tial phases and is in normal, real-time registration mode. You can regis-
ter a name in .US as long as the name is not taken and as long as you have
a legitimate presence in the US. (See our web page for complete informa-
tion.)
Slams, scams, jams: Over the last few months we have seen some very
strange things happening with domain renewals. Some are downright scams.
We have seen or heard of several registries sending out fake renewal let-
ters for domain names. To the person receiving the renewal letter, it may
look just like a bill for another period of registration. But if you sign
and pay it, your domain is transferred away from your registrar over to the
scammer. Please check your renewal notices carefully.
Similarly, at least one registrar (Network Solutions) is sending out
legitimate renewal notices for domains registered through them. The
notices are sent out as much as 5 months in advance, offering a special
3-year renewal rate. The catch is that this 3-year special rate is still a
lot more than you'd pay by transferring the domain to another registrar
(for example, using our services). Network Solutions is feeling the drain
of registrations away to other registrars. Don't feel too bad for them,
though. Verisign, their parent company, gets a cut on every registration
in selected top level domains, no matter what the registrar.
If you have a domain registered with Network Solutions or with another
registrar, there's no reason to wait to transfer it to our registration
services. In fact, waiting can be bad -- we've seen cases where a transfer
has been blocked if it is near the renewal date. As long as you wait at
least 45 days after your previous registration/renewal date and payment,
transferring a domain does not lose you any of the registration time you
have already paid for. When you transfer a domain you pay for a new period
which is appended to the current one. While we should point out that there
are many registrars out there to choose from, some of which are a few dol-
lars per year less than we can offer, we feel that transferring your regis-
tration to our services will serve you best.
New DSL/C areas in NH and Maine
We're pleased to announce two new DSL/C areas in New Hampshire: Keene
and Durham. We are also now able to provide DSL/C service to 15 areas in
Maine. Please check our web page for details.
T1 prices reduced
We've reduced the "full usage" pricing on our T1 leased line services.
Effective May 1, 2002, the MV service fee for a full-usage full T1 is now
$750/month. (This is the MV service fee and does not include the Verizon
cost for the underlying circuit.)
SPAM
Unwanted email has become an epidemic. There are people out there in
the world who think nothing of preying on your mailbox by sending you all
kinds of junk email. They hope you will respond with money. Unfortunately
even a tiny response rate makes it worthwhile.
We've seen huge increases in SPAM lately, and we're sure you have,
too. As an ISP we've been loathe to filter anything on a full scale basis,
in fact we've been proud to bring you the Internet without tampering with
it. But now we know that we need to provide some tools for you to help
reduce the amount of unwanted email you get. We're taking this on as a
project and we expect to have something to show for it in the coming
months.
MV Communications, Inc. PO Box 4963, Manchester, NH 03108 (603) 629-0000