Already launched in Germany, 1&1 MailXchange will offer 1&1 customers hosted email and collaboration services based on Open-Xchange's Smart Collaboration technology. The hosted email solution will be launched in May in USA, UK and France.

The partnership is expected to spawn about 1 million hosted business email and collaboration accounts based on Open-Xchange. 1&1 will continue to offer Hosted Microsoft Exchange but will offer 1&1 MailXchange as a cheaper alternative. The MailXchange accounts will be available as a stand-alone package and as an add-on for existing hosting customers.

Unlike some other email considerations, such as Google, says 1&1, MailXchange offers a single, integrated solution for a variety of collaboration matters, including email, team calendar, shared folders and address books, as well as powerful document sharing with integrated Documail and tagging capabilities.

"1&1 MailXchange will deliver valuable functionality for small businesses and individuals, enabling remote working and communication at very low price points," says 1&1 Internet UK GM Neil Hodson. "Using open-source enables us to provide a high performance package at a considerably lower the price than similar products on the market. Products like 1&1 MailXchange have the 'look and feel' of similar mainstream licensed products and are easily adopted by all levels of user."

Both Microsoft and Google have commanded the hosted email market for the past several years. And although the new partnership is unlikely to steal away the hosted email crown, Hodson says there is still a healthy market for affordable email and collaboration solutions within Germany, USA, UK and France.
   
1&1 has traditionally promoted and contributed to open-source innovation. Hodson says the company has made investments in developing open-source technologies for Web hosting since 1995, and continues to take part in open-source projects that are leading the Web solutions industry. 

"This is a very large open-source deal with respect to end-user numbers due to 1&1's large customer base," says Hodson. "We will run a marketing campaign - targeted to both existing users and potential new customers. Open-Xchange is the first open-source collaboration solution that is available for a broad audience as a hosted solution. This will give small-and-medium sized businesses around the world access, via their Web browsers, to a powerful email and collaboration package at a very affordable price."
 
Pricing for Open-Xchange starts at $4.99 for a single user per month, and is offered for less with volume discounts. 1&1's Hosted Exchange solution, which includes 1GB of storage space, starts at $6.99 for a single user per month.

"1&1's philosophy is to offer the best technical specs in the market for the best price and also provide as much choice for the consumer as possible," says Hodson. "Thus, 1&1 will offer 1&1 MailXchange as well as Hosted Microsoft Exchange - likewise, we offer both Linux and MS Web hosting packages."