Maura Ginty

All the Internet heavyweights are literally heading south this week, and Microsoft Corp. has now poised itself to take a major chunk of the action in South America with its first major investment in Brazil. Microsoft announced late Monday it has spent $126 million to take an 11 percent stake in cable TV operator Globo […]

Fiber optic network builder Global Crossing Ltd. Tuesday inked a $700 million contract with France’s Alcatel and a separate deal with Argentina’s IMPSAT to extend the company’s network to South America. Alcatel will design, manufacture and install the South American Crossing (SAC) ring system with Global Crossing’s marine division, Global Marine Systems Limited, guaranteed $100 […]

After taking its buying spree through Europe, PSINet Monday returned to Latin America, purchasing Panamanian ISP Sinfonet. The deal — its 15th of the year — gives PSINet presence in 19 countries. PSINet’s goal is to rank as one of the top five ISPs in each of the world’s 20 major markets. Sinfonet has more […]

In an effort to sweeten the appeal of its search engine, Lycos, Inc. Monday rolled out information search tool Lycos SeeMore, which allows users to locate more information on a subject by clicking on words or images on any Web page. The tool is available as a free download and is active on Microsoft Internet […]

Internet use is on the rise in the Middle East, with home usage increasing dramatically, according to Internet Arab World magazine. Seventy two percent of the survey’s respondents went online at home, while less than one quarter logged on at work. In the past year and a half, the percentage of high school graduates spiked […]

The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers’ board of directors this week cast a unanimous vote limiting the number of seats allocated to Network Solutions on the Domain Name Supporting Organization‘s Names Council. The resolution, passed late Thursday, bars any three individuals from representing any one constituency on the Domain Name Supporting Organization’s Names […]

Latin American telecom investor Telefonica Internacional (TISA) and U.S. telecom operator IDT Corp. Thursday formed a joint venture. IDT will also take a stake in Telefonica’s submarine cable project. IDT will take a 10 percent stake in Telefonica’s $1.5 billion SAm-I Latin American submarine cable project, which plans to create a backbone to support high […]

Turkish operator Turkcell has signed an deal with L.M. Ericsson to deliver wireless high-speed Internet solutions. The service, which blends carrier-class products from Ericsson’s wireless and datacom portfolios, will be deployed by the end of the year. The WISE High Speed Internet service offers fast connections through a GSM network. “The High Speed Internet also […]

Adding another chip to its bet on the future of the wireless market, Internet giant Yahoo! Inc. Wednesday rolled out wireless management service Yahoo! Mobile as part of its strategy to move beyond the PC. Yahoo! Mobile allows users to choose and send content drawn from a personalized My Yahoo! page to a user’s wireless […]

Softbank Group-owned ISP Asia Online Tuesday received $35 million in financing from a group led by J.P. Morgan. Joining J.P. Morgan in the venture capital closing are Pequot Capital, GE Equity, Softbank Technology Ventures, Nexus Capital Partners and Concentric Network. The company plans to use the financing to enter the Asia Pacific region through strategic […]

America Online Inc. Monday announced the number of users of its online community ICQ has tripled since it acquired the company last year to more than 40 million. In June 1998, AOL acquired ICQ messaging software creator Mirabilis which at the time reported 12 million registered users. More than 20 million users registered in the […]

Following a bitter split with Earthlink Network Inc. last week, Microworkz.com Friday said it will offer free Internet access to all PC users in the U.S. through a deal with AT&T Corp. The PC maker will offer 150 hours of access a month at modem speeds up to 56 kilobits a second by Oct. 31. […]