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Despite a series of high-level executive departures this summer and no assurance it will remain as a standalone cable modem service more than another two years, Road Runner doesn't appear to be slowing down.
Fresh off a record third quarter that saw more than 220,000 new subscribers, the cable modem service provider has more than doubled its January subscriber count to a little more than 1.1 million.
On the network side, Road Runner is in the midst of upgrading its national backbone to OC-48 fiber capacity by the end of the year and plans are to bump that up to OC-192 by the end of 2001.
Meanwhile, the service recently announced it would begin aggressively going after the small and medium business market in a joint project with Cisco Systems Inc. Mark Mercer, vice president of commercial services for Road Runner, said adding Cisco gear to commercial service offerings would extend its reach beyond the existing 15,000 to 20,000 enterprise customers.
Road Runner is aiming for small to medium businesses-those with 100 employees or less-because they often are located near areas where residentially centered cable plant passes.
"It might be harder to reach large companies that are downtown and away from cable," Mercer says. "But these businesses in suburban areas are accessible."
The business product is different from its residential sibling. Road Runner is just starting to roll out tiered data rate packages in symmetric or asymmetric transmission schemes. Other add-ons include Web site management and hosting services.
Future services include virtual private networks for telecommuters, and added security and firewall options. Road Runner also is looking at developing Fax over Internet Protocol or PBX service to the home, Mercer says.
With triple-digit growth projected in this market, Road Runner leadership has targeted the commercial services division for expansion in the coming year. Service is offered in 20 Road Runner markets now, and plans are to be in 40 markets in 2001.
"They really want us to blow this out-this really is an untapped market," Mercer says.
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