Hannah Birtles

HSBC’s non-advisory stockbroking division InvestDirect has announced the launch of NetTrader, an online trading service which will provide direct access to the Australian Stock Exchange via automated straight-through processing. “NetTrader was developed in Australia for Australians, and provides features unique to the Australian marketplace,” said Richard Kimber, head of InvestDirect. He said investors can obtain […]

IMR Worldwide has announced it will soon be releasing a Net rating service to the Australian Internet industry that will provide what it claims is more genuine demographic user data. The ‘Web Ratings’ service is expected to provide true in-site measurement and is acknowledgement of the fact that media buyers and planners are seeking true […]

New global e-commerce products and a world-first in Web content security were among the winners of the Best of Show awards presented at Internet World Australia 1999 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. “The award winners were solutions to real world business problems for Australian organisations. This trend suggests there is an increasing level […]

Only 20 percent of Australians have shopped online more than five times in the last 12 months, according to new research from US-based Jupiter Communications. Speaking at the Internet World ’99 conference and exhibition at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre today, Jupiter’s chairman and chief executive officer Gene de Rose said the Australian market […]

In recognition of the growth of music on the Internet, Australian mining company Richfield Resources has announced it will acquire Sprint, the Melbourne-based owners of MP3.com.au. Richfield joins a growing number of Australian mining companies including Golden Hills and Western Minerals who have recently invested in local Web businesses. Richfield however, is hoping to ride […]

Australian Web production firm Spike Networks has announced that trading on its shares will commence on July 23, a move which is expected to have a market capitalisation of over $126 million. Spike has 87.2 million shares on issue at the offer price of $1.45 and will have over 3000 retail shareholders when it lists […]

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has announced changes to its fee structure to take into account the needs of small business ISPs. The changes include dropping fines against ISPs for the first four minor complaints each quarter, as well as foregoing charges to members for information requests, which do not lead to a complaint. This […]

Australian Web directory company Looksmart this week announced an alliance with legal publisher Butterworths Online under which Looksmart will provide a directory database for Butterworth’s online service. Under the partnership, the home page of Butterworth’s subscription based service will now feature category specific search tools from Looksmart. The co-branded pages will be divided into ‘Australian’ […]

The Australian government has announced plans to establish a new peak body to oversee the development of a national framework for electronic authentication of online activity. The National Electronic Authentication Council (NEAC) is expected to enhance business and consumer confidence in systems for authenticating e-commerce transactions. “Electronic authentication (EA) can be thought of as providing […]

The Senate’s approval for the sale of an additional 16.6 percent of Australia’s largest telecommmunications carrier, Telstra, will see approximately AUS$81 million (US$53 million) granted to the improvement of online services. According to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, the government will allocate AUS$45 million (US$29 million) from the […]

Australian-controlled Internet directory LookSmart will enter the US sharemarket with a public float that is expected to raise some US$150 million. The company, which was founded in Australia but is now based in the U.S., has not disclosed the amount of stock to be offered or the estimated initial selling price, according to a report […]

Spearheading the effort to bring video streaming facilities to its corporate client base, Australian telecommunications carrier and ISP Davnet Ltd. Wednesday announced it has licensed new video-on-demand technology developed by Ericsson Australia and Simson Multimedia. Davnet, which recently acquired ISP Magna Data, will use Multimedia Hotel to become a major distributor of multimedia and video […]