John Lewell

[London, ENGLAND] Third quarter results for QXL ricardo plc, announced Tuesday, have halted the European auctioneer’s recent revival in the markets. Having declined in value by 98 percent in 2000, QXL’s shares had risen by a third during 2001, only to drop by a penny — around 8 percent — on Tuesday’s news. At first […]

[London, ENGLAND] A new messaging service developed in Sweden lets people send anonymous romantic greetings from their mobile phones, but — flirtatiously — tells the recipient the location of the sender. In fact, the service from the entirely non-pornographic Swedish Blue Factory is called Flirtylizer, and both names surely betray a less-than-perfect understanding of the […]

[London, ENGLAND] ThinkMail, a secure outsourced e-mail solution from Scottish ISP iomart Group plc, made its European debut Monday following successful pre-launch trials. With ThinkMail, iomart hopes to exploit what is sees is a largely untapped European demand for securely managed mission-critical e-mail. It says it will compete with other services on cost, security and […]

[London, ENGLAND] European Internet giant Tiscali announced Monday it has agreed to acquire 70 percent of Excite Italia, leaving Excite@Home with just the remaining 30 percent. The deal follows a capital injection of US $22 million by Tiscali and the sale of 50 percent of Excite Italia by Seat Pagine Gialle (Telecom Italia). Renato Soru, […]

[London, ENGLAND] IP-based fiber optic network builder Global Crossing has announced the completion of its Scandinavian ring connecting Denmark, Sweden and Norway to Europe, North and South America and Asia. The 2,150 route kilometer ring is the first of its kind to link these countries together. It will significantly speed communications between the Nordic region […]

[London, ENGLAND] Sweden remains the world’s most information oriented society, while Norway and Finland have elbowed the U.S. into fourth place, according to research company IDC. The system of measurement that has arrived at these results assesses people’s opportunity and ability to use information technology, taking into account computer, information, Internet, and social infrastructures. The […]

[London, ENGLAND] EnReach Technology said Thursday it has chosen Paris as the center for its European operations, from which it will supply software that allows integrated voice, video, and data services to run on interactive television. Bo Wu, president and chief executive for EnReach, said there is a tremendous opportunity for service providers to capture […]

[London, ENGLAND] Norwegian Web browser developer Opera Software announced Thursday a link-up with workers’ rights organization Labour and Society International to combine the Opera browser with the LabourStart portal. According to Opera, the biggest Dutch and Norwegian trade unions have already signed up to the project, and more are expected to follow suit. Essentially, the […]

[London, ENGLAND] Cisco, in the news this week for a rare failure to meet profit and revenue targets, announced Wednesday that Ebone will provide connectivity to support its European network services. Ebone, a division of Global TeleSystems, Inc., has 1 terabit of capacity on its optical Internet backbone in Europe, and serves a quarter of […]

[London, ENGLAND] Late deals e-tailer lastminute.com announced Wednesday it has partnered with European mobile-commerce player 12snap to offer wireless services on a co-branded site. The new site, boasting the no-so-snappy address www.12snap-lastminute.com, will launch in the U.K. on Thursday — and in Germany “at a later date,” according to the partners which both have operations […]

[London, ENGLAND] Never mind the ups and downs of computer manufacturer Apple or mobile operator Orange, on Tuesday it was Speedy Tomato setting the pace in Europe with the launch of a new portal in Finland. A wholly owned subsidiary of Nordic communications company Telia, Speedy Tomato began life in September 2000 with the aim […]

[London, ENGLAND] Global communications company Sprint outlined its international strategy Tuesday, saying it is committed to expanding its Internet backbone in both Europe and Asia. Sprint confirmed that London will be the location of its European headquarters, from which it will control a new pan-European IP network. It says it will be the first major […]