Return Path Unveiling Pan-European ISP-Relations Program

Deliverability firm Return Path and e-mail service provider e-Dialog are expected today to unveil a joint project aimed at tackling deliverability issues in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

However, instead of calling it a partnership or joint venture, Return Path and e-Dialog are positioning the vaguely outlined project as an alliance, and saying other ESPs will be allowed to participate once some details are worked out.

Dubbed the Sender Score Receiver Alliance, the venture aims to provide a central point of contact between e-mail senders and Internet service providers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

E-Dialog has joined the effort as one of two “charter members,” according to Ken Takahashi, vice president, corporate and international development. The other participant is German ISP eCircle.

The program is currently closed to other ESPs, said Takahashi.

“Through this charter period, we will tweak the program by deciding, for example, do we want to cover more countries up front? Or do we want to go deeper into each country?” said Takahashi. “Once we get a clear understanding of where we want to be and how we want to operate, we will open this up to the general audience of ESPs.”

He added Return Path expects to open the program up to other ESPs “in a couple of months, once we work out a few of the last details we can only uncover through this initial period.”

He said one reason for the different approach to the European market compared to North America is because Europe is so fragmented.

“In North America, [because there are relatively few ISPs] you can invest in one or two professionals to become your delivery management consultants in house and you’ve pretty much got everything you need,” he said. “In Europe, you don’t have that luxury. You have different languages, different countries and different cultures.”