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Concentric Network Corp. and Register.com said last week that they would couple their Internet expertise to deliver combined Web hosting and domain registration services.

Under a co-marketing agreement, Concentric will offer bundled Web hosting and e-commerce services for new companies registering domain names at Register.com. The carrier also is investing $5 million in the new registrar, which the start-up plans to use for technical developments, infrastructure improvements and sales and marketing efforts.

"Register.com has built their system from scratch. We will leverage their technology, brand equity, and the fact that they are the first to market," said John Peters, executive vice president and general manager for the network application services division at Concentric. "If you look back through history, new entrants usually benefit more from changes than established companies."

Register.com was the first top-level domain registrar to receive accreditation and complete the testing requirements issued by the Internet Council for Assigned Names and Addresses. Since June 7, the start-up has been registering domain names in competition with Network Solutions Inc.

Register.com also has designed a competitive package for its users. Registration costs are less than NSI's fees, and the user interface allows customers to access more information about domain names and make instantaneous changes to the domain name server or IP address.

On June 30, Melbourne IT joined Register.com and NSI as a top-level domain name registrar. For now, only these companies dot the registration landscape, but many more plan to follow. Currently 34 companies have received accreditation for domain name registration, but most have not completed the technical requirements.

"Competition is good for the market. It will force innovation, improve customer service and weed out companies that can't provide good service," said Sascha Mornell, vice president of marketing at Register.com. "Competition will bring more focus to our industry and only the best-of-breed will survive."