BUSINESS
In the papers 05 October
05-10-2000
by
Servault in USD150 million investment | Freeserve "abusers" may be disconnected
US-based Servervault is to set up a USD150 million Internet hosting centre in Dublin, according to a report in the Irish Times. The company, which has already invested USD6 million to USD10 million at Citywest business park, should employ 50 people there, the paper said.
Both the Irish Examiner and the Irish Independent reports on Wednesday's statement by director Tom Godfrey of IBI Corporate Finance, who said that firms supplying infrastructure and software for the Internet boom are most likely to get finance. Godfrey said that the days are over of easy finance for dot.coms who can't show a clear path to profitability.
Abroad, the Financial Times reports that customers who are deemed to be abusing the flat-rate service from free UK ISP Freeserve could be disconnected. The paper said the company is threatening to cut off the 700 heaviest users of the service, some of whom are connected 24 hours a day. About one percent of users are taking 10 percent of the network's capacity, the paper said quoting Freeserve COO Frank Keeling.
The paper also reports on a massive new alliance between mobile giant Vodafone and China Mobile, the largest cellular company on the China mainland. Vodafone is paying USD2.5 billion in cash to help China Mobile fund the USD32.84 billion purchase of seven provincial mobile networks from its parent, the paper said. The investment gets Vodafone a stake of around 2 percent in China Mobile.
In London, finally, the Independent reports that EasyJet, the low-cost British airline, plans to take 100 percent of its bookings via the Internet by next spring. The company said it could make savings of up to 30 percent by cutting out travel agents and telephone sales staff, the paper said.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 