OzEmail
Encyclopedia
OzEmail was a major Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
(ISP) in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, until it was acquired by the iiNet
IiNet
iiNet Limited is Australia's second largest internet service provider with over 1.3 million customers as of 15th August 2011. Their focus is primarily on ADSL-based Internet access, using their own ADSL2+ infrastructure, and reselling Telstra ADSL1. iiNet also provides dial-up and voice...
ISP on February 28, 2005.
History
In the early 1980s, Sean HowardSean Howard
Sean Howard is an Australian entrepreneur, founder of OzEmail, at one time Australia's largest Internet company.In the 1980s Howard developed the email service, Microtex. He also founded Australian Personal Computer, Australia's top-selling computer magazine. In 1988 he became an original investor...
was the editor of the Australian Personal Computer
Australian Personal Computer
APC is a computer magazine in Australia. It is published monthly and comes with a cover-mounted DVD of software...
magazine and was running a small electronic mail service called Microtex. In 1992, he sold his share of Computer Publications to ACP and concentrated on Microtex which he renamed OzEmail. At this time, OzEmail (based in St Leonards
St Leonards, New South Wales
St Leonards is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Leonards is located 5 km north-west of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of Municipality of Lane Cove, North Sydney Council and the City of...
, NSW) had only 8 staff members and were creating a system to integrate Lotus Software
Lotus Software
Lotus Software is a software company with headquarters in Westford, Massachusetts...
Cc:Mail
Cc:Mail
cc:Mail is an obsolete, store-and-forward LAN-based e-mail system originally developed on Microsoft's MS-DOS platform by Hubert Lipinski in the 1980s. At the height of its popularity cc:Mail had about 21 million users.-Message store:...
, MicrosoftMail and Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
MHS Mail systems. The initial network consisted of 16 POP
Point of presence
A point of presence is an artificial demarcation point or interface point between communications entities. It may include a meet-me-room.In the US, this term became important during the court-ordered breakup of the Bell Telephone system...
s around Australia.
On 28 May 1996, OzEmail became the first Australian tech stock ever to list on the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
. With the trading symbol OZEMY, over A$50 million in investment capital was raised. Two years later, OzEmail listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Stock Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
(ASX) with the symbol OZM. Also in 1996, OzEmail were unsuccessful respondents in a case involving the creators of Trumpet Winsock
Winsock
In computing, the Windows Sockets API , which was later shortened to Winsock, is a technical specification that defines how Windows network software should access network services, especially TCP/IP. It defines a standard interface between a Windows TCP/IP client application and the underlying...
regarding intellectual property and trade practices matters http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/1996/560.html. The court found that Mr Howard
Sean Howard
Sean Howard is an Australian entrepreneur, founder of OzEmail, at one time Australia's largest Internet company.In the 1980s Howard developed the email service, Microtex. He also founded Australian Personal Computer, Australia's top-selling computer magazine. In 1988 he became an original investor...
was "closely involved in all stages of the project".
Through 1997 and 1998, OzEmail grew at a great rate by acquisitions and aggressive growth while competing with some 850 ISPs. On 14 December 1998, WorldCom (later MCI
MCI Inc.
MCI, Inc. is an American telecommunications subsidiary of Verizon Communications that is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia...
) launched a takeover bid. It was completed on 24 February 1999 when they became 100% owners of OzEmail, removing OzEmail from the NASDAQ and ASX. OzEmail continued its previous strategy of acquiring other companies. Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...
, later an MP, Minister for the Environment and Opposition Leader, was then chairman of OzEmail.
He purchased a stake in Ozemail in 1994 for $500,000 and sold his stake for $57 million in 1999 to WorldCom. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/14/1034561094085.html
Perth based ISP iiNet purchased the assets of OzEmail on 28 February 2005 and started trading under the new name iiNet
IiNet
iiNet Limited is Australia's second largest internet service provider with over 1.3 million customers as of 15th August 2011. Their focus is primarily on ADSL-based Internet access, using their own ADSL2+ infrastructure, and reselling Telstra ADSL1. iiNet also provides dial-up and voice...
(OzEmail) Pty Ltd. The OzEmail brand name is now no longer available. While existing customers have kept their OzEmail usernames, new customers are signed up under the iiNet brand.