Neustar

ICANNWiki Gold Sponsor
Type:	Public (NSR on NYSE)
Industry:	Information Services
Founded:	1996
Headquarters:	21575 Ridgetop Circle Sterling, VA 20166
Country:	USA
Employees:	1,500 (2011)
Revenue:	$620.5 million (2011)
Website:	Neustar.biz
Twitter:	@Neustar
Key People
Lisa A. Hook, President and CEO Paul S. Lalljie, Senior VP and CFO Mark F. Bregman, Senior VP and CTO Scott Blake Harris, Senior VP and General Counsel Jeff Neuman, VP Business Affairs Ken Hansen, Senior Director of Business Development Ivor Sequeira, Senior Director of Neustar Registry Services Judy Song-Marshall, Director of Marketing, Registry Services Gene Kearon, Senior Channel Relationship Manager Marco Bernardi, Director International Industry Relationships Fernando España, Sr. Mgr. Registrar Relations Asia Pacific & Latin America Becky Burr, Chief Privacy Officer and Deputy General Counsel

Neustar is an information and analytics provider from Virginia, USA.

Neustar was founded in 1996 to meet the many technical and operational challenges that arose when the U.S. Government mandated local number portability. Today, the company solves global challenges through data insights and intelligence for the Internet, telecommunications, entertainment and marketing industries throughout the world. Neustar has three defined business segments: Carrier Services, Enterprise Services and Information Services.

Neustar, Inc. is a trusted, neutral provider of real-time information and analysis to the Internet, telecommunications, entertainment and marketing industries throughout the world. Neustar applies its advanced, secure technologies in routing, addressing and authentication to its customers’ data to help them identify new revenue opportunities and network efficiencies, and institute cybersecurity and fraud protection measures.

Neustar Domain Name Registry Services operates the global registry for .us and .biz; in addition, it provides back-end registry services for .co, .tel and .travel, gateway services to country code top level domains (ccTLDs), internationalized domain names (IDNs), and full registry services to new top level domains. Neustar's registry is connected to over 250 domain name registrars worldwide.

History

• In 1996, Neustar, then the Communications Industry Services unit within Lockheed Martin, won its original contract to provide local number portability services to select regions throughout North America. In 1997, it won the contract to become the official North American Numbering Plan (NANP) administrator.The NANP is a system of three-digit area codes and seven-digit telephone numbers that directs telephone calls to particular regions on a public switched telephone network. Thus, Neustar has assumed LNP responsibilities for all geographic regions throughout the United States and Canada as the operator of the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC). Neustar subsequently launched wireless number portability to much of the North American market in 2003.

• In 1998, Neustar successfully trialed number pooling at the state-wide level. Number pooling is a method of reallocating telephone numbers under the NANP, and it has created much more flexibility in the creation, usage and longevity of area codes and telephone numbers across North America. Neustar went on to win the contract for Number Pooling Administration in 2001; that agreement was renewed in 2007.

• In 1999, CIS was divested from Lockheed Martin and became Neustar after Lockheed Martin acquired COMSAT, a global telecommunications company. Lockheed Martin chose to spin off the unit because the acquisition created neutrality concerns for CIS’s number administration and NANP functions.

• In 1999, Neustar and Australia based MelbourneIT formed a new joint venture, NeuLevel to promote .biz internet domain name services under an ICANN bid. The joint venture, which has since been dissolved, was awarded the contract in 2000 to administer the name registry for the .biz domain. Today, Neustar is the sole registry operator for .biz. However, this was the first registry services contract win of its kind; Neustar subsequently won contracts to serve as the registry operator for the .us domain (2001; renewal in 2007); as the “registry gateway” operator for China’s .cn and Taiwan’s .tw domains (2002); and as the registry operator for the .tel domain (2007).

• In 2003, Neustar Acquired Assets Of NightFire Software, a standards-based service manager for the communications industry. It was the first of multiple strategic acquisitions, which helped crate Neustar’s Order Management Services (OMS) clearinghouse. After subsequent acquisitions, Foretec Seminars became Neustar Secretariat Services (2005); UltraDNS became a Neustar service (2006); Followap, Inc. became Neustar Next Generation Messaging (2006); and Webmetrics became a Neustar service (2008).

Also in 2003, Neustar (under contract with CTIA – The Wireless Association) announced the availability of five-digit Common Short Codes (CSCs), numeric codes to which text messages can be sent from a wireless mobile phone or phone-enabled device. CSCs are now in wide usage for such applications as television contest voting, coupon redemption, gaming, sweepstakes, and more. Six-digit CSCs made their debut in 2006.

• In 2004, Neustar announced the first major number portability initiative outside the United States, when it launched number portability in Taiwan.

• In 2005, Neustar became a public company on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker symbol "NSR".. They were named “IPO of the Year” by both Renaissance Capital LLC and Thomson Financial's International Financing Review. The IPO raised $605 million.

• In April, 2006, Neustar acquired UltraDNS, a global industry leader in providing managed domain name systems (DNS) and directory services based in Reston, VA. Today, Neustar UltraDNS Services are integral in directing and managing Internet traffic, enabling thousands of customers to control and distribute that traffic. The acquisiton cost $61.8 million in cash.

In November, 2006, Neustar acquired Uk based instant-messaging service provider Followap for $139 M.. Today, Followap is known as Neustar Next Generation Messaging (NGM).

• Neustar acquired Foretec Seminar which was later to be known as Neustar Secretariat Services in 2005. Neustar also Acquired Fiducianet, which provides law enforcement compliance and fraud management services to carriers, in the same year; and, thus, became the single largest provider of services involving subpoenas, court orders and law enforcement agency requests under electronic surveillance laws including CALEA, the USA Patriot Act, and the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

• In September, 2007, Neustar and ClearTech, a telecommunication service provider company, jointly won a contract for number portability in Brazil. Today, this implementation ranks as the second largest of its kind in the world (after the USA), and as Neustar’s second major international number portability initiative (after Taiwan in 2004).

• In January, 2008, Neustar bought WebMetrics, a San Diego based company which provides SaaS and website testing and monitoring services, for $12.5 million. Today, Webmetrics is a Neustar service that provides collaborative performance management services for complex web ecosystems.

• In September, 2008, Neustar and GSM Association, the global trade organization for mobile operators, signed an agreement to offer Root Domain Name System (DNS) services to more than 680 global GSM mobile operators. Their collaboration resulted in the PathFinder number resolution system. PathFinder simplifies the transmission of instant messages, MMS, emails, video and other Internet Protocol (IP)-based communications between mobile phones and between mobile and fixed-line phones. Today, Neustar operates the PathFinder service on behalf of the GSMA.

In addition, 2008 saw Neustar participate in Cyber Storm II, the largest multinational online security exercise ever, which was organized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The goal was to examine security preparedness and response capabilities across a variety of infrastructure functions including information technology, communications, and transportation systems and assets.

• January, 2009 Neustar announced an amendment of its telephone number portability contracts. The amended contract not only provided Neustar with predictable revenues for the next several years, but also promised to spur innovation by encouraging the industry to use additional fields and functions in the NPAC to facilitate tomorrow’s IP-based routing services.

Also that year, Neustar ranked #17 on Forbes Magazine’s annual “25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies” list.

• 2010, Neustar announced Lisa Hook’s appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer. The acquisitions of BrowserMob, LLC, a leading provider of load testing and monitoring services, and Quova, Inc., a global leader in IP geolocation services, allowed the company to expand services to help online businesses optimize their web presence and also detect and prevent fraud, ensure regulatory compliance, manage digital content rights distribution and localize ads and web content.

• 2011, Neustar acquired the assets and certain liabilities of the Numbering Solutions business of Evolving Systems, Inc., which furthered the company’s long-term initiative to simplify operators’ OSS architectures. Neustar also completed the acquisition of TARGUSinfo, a leading provider of real-time, on-demand information services, including Caller ID. Additionally, President Barack Obama appointed Lisa Hook, Neustar’s President & CEO, to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC).

• 2012, Neustar announced a partnership with the National Small Business Association to promote the .biz extension to members of the organization. The goal is to see more small businesses create an online presence to compete in a market that largely favors online stores and businesses.

Products and Services

According to its official website, the services Neustar provides are divided into Carrier Services Enterprise Services and Information Services.

Career Services include: Numbering Services such as local number portability services, international LNP (Taiwan and Brazil), number administration, legal compliance services, order management services and IP Services such as GSMA pathfinder, converged messaging, multimedia interconnect services, and other carrier services.

Enterprise Services include: Internet infrastructure services such UltraDNS services, Webmetrics monitoring and load testing, IP Geolocation services etc.; and registry services such as domain name registry services, U.S. Common Short Codes, etc.

Information Services provides enterprises with a diverse portfolio of real-time information and analytics services, across multiple touch points. Neustar provides secure on-demand caller identification, verification and scoring services under the TARGUSinfo brand name; local business listings under the Localeze brand name and online audience targeting solutions under the AdAdvisor brand name.

Throughout 2011 and 2012, Neustar has been showcasing their newest Mobile and Intelligent Cloud Services, these include services for financial institutions and mobile app developers.

My Digital Life

In January, 2012, Neustar announced that it was partnering with EverFi, Inc., a leading education technology company, to implement a digital literacy program for students across the state of Kentucky. The latter organization developed the program, which is an interactive, new-media driven course aimed at 8th and 9th graders. The program covers topics from privacy, security, cyberbullying, digital relationships, and digital addiction and the curriculum also focuses on building specific digital skills, such as creating a blog, maintaining a responsible social networking profile, and evaluating online research sources for legitimacy. Neustar emphasized that this is one way in which they are acting on their firm commitment to science, technology, engineering, and math education.

Finances

The following information details Neustar's (2011) finances:

• Revenue: US$620,500,000
• Operating income: US$ 209,024,000
• Net income: US$ 160,823 ,000
• Total assets: US$ 1,382,638,000
• Total stockholders’ equity: US$ 502,634 ,000
• Employees Approx 1,500

Information on 2010 finances:

• Revenue: US$ 526,800,000
• Operating income: US$ 175,521,000
• Net income: US$ 106,207,000
• Total assets: US$ 733,864,000
• Total equity: US$ 596,112,000
• Employees 1,040

Awards

In 2009, Neustar ranked number 17 in Forbes Magazine’s annual "25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies" list.

In 2007, Neustar won "Public Company CFO Of The Year" Award in the 11th Annual Greater Washington Technology CFO Awards.

In 2006, Neustar won "Frost & Sullivan: North American Technology Innovation" Award, Internet Telephony Magazine's "Top 100 Voices of IP Communications" award , ranked #37 on Deloitte "Technology Fast 50" Awards (Virginia), Northern Virginia Technology Council's "Hot Ticket" Awards, Northern Virginia Technology Council's 2006 Greater Washington Technology "CFO of the Year" Awards, ranked #28 on BusinessWeek's "Hot Growth Companies 2006" , and others.

In December, 2005, Neustar was recognized by the "IPO of the year" award from the IPO research committee at Renaissance Capital.

New gTLDs

.Neustar Brand gTLD

Neustar is one of the large registries involved in New gTLD registry and consultancy services, but in June, 2011 it became the only one that was publicly pursuing its own Brand gTLD, that is, .neustar. According to Mark Pilipczuk, Neustar's vice president of Corporate Marketing & Communications, the .neustar gTLD will increase consumer awareness regarding the company as premier provider of real-time information and analytics. He also said that the company will probably create service-specific domains name such as dns.neustar or siteprotect.neustar. One this is for sure, the company is excited to operate its own brand gTLD.

.Green gTLD

The DotGreen Registry Corporation, applying for the .green gTLD in ICANN's new gTLD program, has partnered with Neustar for its registry back-end and DNS needs.

.Site gTLD

The company was also partnered with UrbanBrain, a Japanese gTLD consultancy and policy development firm and a subsidiary of Interlink Co., Ltd to provide back-end registry solutions and to submit applications for major Japanese companies interested in operating their own Brand gTLDs. The first gTLD being applied for under the partnership with ICANN is .site, an alternative domain name string for internet users worldwide.

.Gay Community gTLD

dotgay LLC selected Neustar to provide back-end registry services for the proposed .gay Community gTLD.

Partnership with Top Level Domain Holdings

In June 2011, Antony Van Couvering, CEO of TLDH and Minds + Machines announced its partnership with Neustar to provide back-end registry services for some of its proposed geographical TLDs such as .bayern, .berlin, .mumbai etc. Couvering acknowledged Neustars track record and capability in providing registry solutions, financial resources and outstanding customer service.

.NYC Geo TLD

The New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) partnered with Neustar to manage and operate the .nyc TLD. According to DoITT, under the agreement the city government will earn 40% from the total revenue that will be generated from .nyc TLD and the estimated minimum income for the initial five-years will be $3.6 million. Neustar is also responsible in paying the $185,000 ICANN application fee as well as the post application fees and the $25,000 annual fee.

.health gTLD

DotHealth, LLC confirmed that Neustar will provide the back-end registry solutions for the .health TLD. It will also use the Neustars threat mitigation and compliance monitoring services to prevent distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to ensure safety and security of the .health domain name space.

Neustar Secured 358 gTLD Applications

In June 11, 2012, Alex Berry, senior vice president for Enterprise Services of Neustar announced that the company was able to secure 358 contracts gTLD applicants to serve as their back-end registry provider. It was previously reported that the company announced its willingness to accept multiple applications from the same strings, which is probably the reason for securing its total number of gTLD contracts beating Verisign's 220 applications.

Reaction on Batching Process (Digital Archery)

In June 2012, J. Beckwith Burr, Neustar's Deputy General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer wrote to ICANN regarding the company's position on the implementation of the batching process (digital archery) for the initial evaluation of new gTLD applications. In his letter, Burr said that Neustar is supporting the position of other companies requesting for the brief delay of the batching process. Burr pointed out that implementing batching as scheduled prior to publication of the actual list of applications will only create losers and winners, it would complicate the situation that might prevent the development of a better resolution. He also emphasized that a brief delay will enable ICANN to review the facts and the suggested alternatives presented by the affected community. Burr said, "We believe that there is ample time between now and ICANN's meeting in Prague to analyze the facts and to determine a course of action based on informed community input. Accordingly, Neustar urges a brief pause to review the need for "batched" consideration of new gTLD applications and if such batching is indeed necessary, to fine-tune the program in light of actual applications."

External links

• Neustar
• Neustar Registry

Top-Level Domain