John Lewell

Global Crossing has acquired a 49 per cent share of S.B. Submarine Systems Company (SBSS) from Great Eastern Telecommunications (GET), a joint venture of Cable & Wireless and Hong Kong Telecom. Global Crossing, which is building the world’s most advanced global IP-based fibre optic network, reached agreement with China Telecommunications, the majority partner in SBSS […]

Transatlantic venture capital company Arts Alliance is leading a £1.25 million ($2 million) investment in UBUBU, a San Francisco-based developer of Web community tools. Advanced Technology Ventures is co-leading the investment, which will help the start-up company to become established in the market. UBUBU — pronounced “you be you be you” — aims to redefine […]

The UK’s top independent provider of carrier services Racal Telecom has commissioned Phase One of a 25 kilometre fibre optic ring around Docklands. The ring is intended to alleviate the bottleneck experienced by many ISPs at this “nerve centre” of Internet interconnections in London. Docklands is the physical location of Telehouse, the main London carrier […]

Having revolutionised the UK insurance industry by offering fast, direct and relatively inexpensive cover, Direct Line is trying to do it again — online. From its Web site, Direct Line will provide users with access to immediate insurance cover, 24 hours a day throughout the year, using the most powerful security available. Getting insurance for […]

Until now the Internet has had a limited impact on the UK car market, but that is about to change, according to a new report from Fletcher Research. Currently, the Internet is appealing to older, more educated and more affluent car buyers, says the report. However, most of them are simply looking for information rather […]

Magex, the digital commerce service from NatWest, says that UK users who download digital music tracks protected by its technology will be able to hear them in CD-quality sound, thanks to a deal with MusicMatch. The new agreement enables consumers to play their Magex protected tracks using MusicMatch Jukebox, its personal jukebox software. Users can […]

The Fantastic Corp. has joined with Deutsche Telekom, Nokia and ZDF to demonstrate ‘multimedia over the air.’ The DVB@air Project sets out to prove that multimedia data can be sent wirelessly to portable devices. For the project, The Fantastic Corp. has created a light version of its MediaSurfer client software which resides on the Nokia […]

Top online retailer of children’s products eToys announced Tuesday that it will embark on expansion outside the U.S. by launching in the UK this autumn. Spearheading its international expansion is Ruben Rodriguez, formerly an executive with The Boston Consulting Group, who joined eToys in May. James Bidwell, formerly a senior marketing manager with Sega and […]

World Radio Network (WRN) has announced the launch of its new European Radio Network (ERN), a group of dedicated radio services in the major languages of the European Union. ERN will be broadcast by satellite and also made available live on the Internet serving listeners inside and outside the European Union. ERN will carry news […]

Internet Travel Auctions, a division of Midlands Co-op Travel, is launching holidayauctions.net on September 1. The site will offer people the chance to grab a bargain by bidding for their chosen holiday online. “As consumers become increasingly more comfortable with making purchases over the net, it is only logical that holidaymakers will use the technology […]

BiblioTech, which claims to be one of Europe’s fastest growing Internet companies, has acquired AboarD, a leading boating and yachting destination once voted ‘best UK Internet site’ by a leading business magazine. Established in 1995, AboarD has become a focus for the marine market. One of its main features is called ‘The Marketplace,’ where other […]

According to research company IDC, Web-based procurement more than doubles in size each year, with a compound annual growth rate of 105 per cent. Worldwide, the Internet commerce procurement applications market topped $147 million in 1998, and is expected to reach $5 billion by 2003. Most significant of IDC’s findings is the fact that web-based […]