John Lewell

Online auctioneer QXL.com announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire Allegro, an online auction site in Poland, from e-commerce company SurfStopShop. Although Allegro is the largest site of its kind in Poland, QXL.com will be paying just $75,000 in cash for it. Many items offered for sale in online auctions often cost more, but […]

Fiber optic operator Global Crossing announced Monday that it has extended its pan-European network to Spain and Scandinavia. The extension takes in five new cities in Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona, and three new cities in Scandinavia, including Stockholm and Oslo. The additions take Global Crossing’s European network to a total of over 40 commercial […]

BTLookSmart, the joint venture between BT and LookSmart, Friday signed with free Italian ISP Infinito for search and directory services. Currently serving over 200,000 subscribers, despite being launched as recently as three months ago, Infinito will incorporate a BTLookSmart branded search box on its site. In addition, BTLookSmart will provide Infinito with a directory of […]

The U.K’s Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) took another step Friday in fulfilling its requirement to make BT open its local access lines to other operators. Setting a brisk pace, OFTEL annnounced the launch of the official consultation period, with a view to getting the new licence condition in place by June. With talks commencing, OFTEL […]

E-security solution provider Baltimore Technologies plc has taken a 72.5 per cent stake in its Japanese reseller, NSJ Corp. In a creative deal, Baltimore has agreed to pay 2.67 billion yen ($24.9 million) for the stake, while NSJ will pay Baltimore 2.4 billion yen ($22.4 million) to extend its license to distribute Baltimore products for […]

Making a series of announcements Thursday, British Telecom said it intends to take the mobile Internet to mass markets, not just in the U.K. but also globally. First, BT announced the establishment of a new unit to sell mobile Internet services worldwide, and the appointment of Kent Thexton, former marketing director of BT Cellnet, as […]

Softbank Corp. announced Wednesday that it will commit more than $1 billion to entrepreneurial Internet ventures in the U.K. and Europe. The two new funds, Softbank UK Ventures (SBUKV) with $450 million, and Softbank Europe Ventures (SBEV) with $550 million, will both be overseen by Eric Hippeau, president and executive managing director of Softbank International […]

European IT services giant Cap Gemini and Internet technology leader Cisco Systems Inc. announced Wednesday a new global Internet consultancy backed with $164 million from Cisco and staffed by 4,600 people from Cap Gemini. The new company will essentially be a Cap Gemini subsidiary, with the European company owning 95.1 percent and Cisco getting just […]

Going one better than Web portal AltaVista, the U.K’s largest cable company NTL says it will offer unmetered Internet access with no subscription charges from April 17. The service, named ntlworld, will be available to anyone in the U.K., the only proviso being that existing BT customers will have to spend at least £10 ($16) […]

Internet portal AltaVista announced this weekend that it will offer customers in the U.K. unmetered Internet access with no telephone charges, for a single upfront fee. Customers will pay just a one-time administration charge of around £30 ($48), gaining access to the Internet via an 0800 number. The only catch, following scrutiny by much of […]

The megamerger of Internet banks first-e and Uno-e, announced Monday, will create a global banking group in a deal worth $2.3 billion. Named unofirst, the new group will operate in Europe, Latin America, the United States and Asia. Initially, it will bring together first-e’s U.K. operations, now being extended to Germany in a pilot scheme, […]

Atlas Venture announced Friday an investment of $4 million in eFoodmanager, a European food trading platform due to launch in early May. Alexander Bruehl, principal at Atlas Venture, joins the board of eFoodmanager. He commented that the European company’s strong management team and neutral positioning in the supply chain could make it a dominant force […]