John Lewell

[June 15] A new survey by U.S. e-business solutions company Chordiant Software suggests that U.K. firms compromise the quality of their customer service when they extend their operations to the Web. Chordiant says that while U.K. firms are more eager to adopt a “clicks and mortar” strategy than their European counterparts, they often keep their […]

[June 14] Web portal Lycos announced Wednesday that its collaboration with Norwegian search technology developer Fast Search & Transfer has powered it to the top spot in Web coverage with over 340 million pages indexed. According to Lycos, the target remains one billion URLs in the coming year — a figure the two companies fully […]

[June 14] Canadian e-marketer Envoy Communications Group announced Wednesday that it intends to purchase the U.K-based digital imaging and design firm Gilchrist Brothers Ltd. Envoy says it will integrate Gilchrist into The Watt Group, the branding and design firm it acquired from Cott Corporation in June last year. Gilchrist is expected to be the platform […]

[June 13] Broadband provider Global TeleSystems, Inc. (GTS) announced Tuesday an agreement to host two of Network Solutions’ global top-level domain name registry servers in Europe. VeriSign subsidiary Network Solutions maintains the definitive directory for Web addresses and is responsible for ensuring that these addresses are propogated throughout the Internet. GTS operates GTS Ebone, Europe’s […]

[June 13] Everyday.com, an Internet portal with free e-mail, Internet access and e-commerce features, launched Tuesday in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg. A joint venture between NetCom AB and Modern Times Group (MTG) AB, the new portal is being franchised by Société Européenne de Communication (SEC) to offer free Internet access to its Tele2 and other […]

[June 12] Nokia Networks has signed what it says is its largest-ever deal, a three-year agreement with Turkish mobile operator Telsim for GSM expansion worth $900 million. Under the terms of the agreement, Nokia will upgrade Telsim’s GSM 900 mobile network, adding switching equipment, base stations, radio transmission, and other features to enhance services for […]

[June 12] Microsoft Corporation agreed Monday to exercise the warrants it holds in United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC) by purchasing 5.7 million shares worth $53.2 million. The purchase raises Microsoft’s stake in UPC from seven percent to approximately eight percent. Originally, UPC issued the warrants as part of a technology relationship agreement with Microsoft. They became […]

[June 9] German software developer webwasher.com AG claims that far from slowing down response times its Web filtering system can speed them by up to 80 percent if used with a new cache server. The so-called “Wash & Cache” solution released in Germany this week — and not yet available in the U.S. — is […]

[June 9] Top executives at Amazon.com increased speculation Friday by refusing to say whether the next Amazon site currently being prepared in Europe is for France, Spain or Italy. Diego Piacentini, Amazon’s head of international operations, said that Spain was “a huge opportunity,” an opinion confirmed by Chief Operating Joseph Galli who said Amazon would […]

[June 8] Norwegian technology group IT Media announced Thursday a new business-to-business WAP and wireless Web portal for the U.K. The site, www.wapland.com, has been produced for people who want information about Internet services running over Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). It will carry details of all the latest products from such manufacturers as Nokia and […]

[June 8] FirstMark Communications Europe SA announced Thursday the largest private telecoms equity financing in European history — $1 billion to take the company “well into 2001.” Currently, FirstMark operates a fiber network in Germany connecting 21 cities, but it has ambitious plans to build a pan-European network spanning 18 countries and linking 170 cities. […]

[June 7] United News and Media said Wednesday that it expects to invest over $400 million in new media over the next two years. Based in the U.K., United News and Media announced that it plans to rebrand its subsidiary Miller Freeman U.K. as United Business Media, making it an umbrella company for its magazine […]