From: TheStandard.com [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 6:58 PM
To: Intelligencer Europe
Subject: INTELLIGENCER EUROPE: T-Online linked with Excite Europe deal
| http://www.thestandardeurope.com
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THE INDUSTRY STANDARD EUROPE'S
I N T E L L I G E N C E R E U R O P E
This Week in the European Internet Economy
=====================================================================
Wednesday, 23 May 2001
TOP STORY:
* T-Online linked with Excite Europe deal
WORTH REPEATING:
* A mobile Penthouse
THE WEEK:
* News highlights
BY THE NUMBERS:
* European IT spending stable
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TOP STORY
~~~~~~~~~
T-Online linked with Excite Europe deal
The German service provider is reported to be considering an approach
for ExciteAtHome's European business
By Boris Groendahl and Rick Wray
Deutsche Telekom 's ISP T-Online is in "exploratory talks" with Excite
At Home to acquire its European portal business. A report in the Wall
Street Journal was dismissed as speculation by the company but
analysts believe the business is looking increasingly exposed to a
takeover because of the cash-strapped position of its US parent.
T-Online is Europe's largest ISP with 8.7 million subscribers, but 7.1
million of those live in Germany. It has operations in France, Spain,
Portugal and Austria but still lacks a presence in the big markets of
the UK, Scandinavia and Italy. While almost 90 per cent of T-Online's
revenues are derived from access fees, Excite's European business
mainly comes from its portal, not Net access.
Under its new CEO Thomas Holtrop, T-Online has put international
expansion lower on the company's priority list. Holtrop has said his
main goal is to turn T-Online from an Internet access company into a
media company and thereby increase revenues.
While analysts approve of Holtrop's goal, there has been a question
mark over T-Online's lack of an international strategy. The purchase
of Excite would give T-Online access to important markets such as the
UK and Italy, although the portal is not a big player in any European
country.
Excite's UK and Italian businesses are co-owned by T-Online
competitors: BT has a 42 per cent stake in Excite UK, and Tiscali a 70
per cent stake in Excite Italy. It is known that the US parent
company, Excite At Home, has been talking to other interested buyers
of its European ventures, including Tiscali.
BT bought its stake in Excite UK in 1998 for $10 million (11.5 million
euros) as part of its strategy at the time of piecemeal expansion into
the Internet. But since then BT has bundled its online assets into its
broadband and narrowband initiative BTOpenworld in order to take full
control of its new-media operations.
The group's 42 per cent stake in Excite UK is not a core asset, and
while a spokesman refused to comment, sources within the telecom
company's corporate headquarters admitted the group would be very
happy to dispose of the business.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WORTH REPEATING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"People have always been able to take
Penthouse to the beach, but this way it?s a lot more discreet."
A Penthouse spokesman, on the joys of the magazine?s new wireless
service that transmits images to handheld devices (Reuters)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE WEEK
~~~~~~~~
TRACK MEET: Media giant Vivendi Universal has bought MP3.com for $372
million (430 million euros), having previously sued the online music
site for copyright infringement. One reason for the deal is thought to
be the fact that Duet, Vivendi's subscription service joint venture
with Sony, is desperate to catch up with its rival MusicNet, a
platform jointly owned by BMG, Warner, EMI and RealNetworks. With
Vivendi's purchase of MP3.com, Duet now has instant access to a proven
online distribution technology.
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16569,00.html
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16554,00.html
METABOX COLLAPSES: German firm Metabox, which makes set-top boxes for
digital television, has filed for insolvency. The Neuer Markt-listed
company has been at the centre of investigations into alleged stock
fraud. Metabox recently presented a delayed report - for which its
accounting firm did not vouch - that revealed a loss during 2000 of
$11.9 million (13.8 million euros) on sales of $20.9 million (24.2
million euros). The company said it was looking for ways to reorganise
and continue operating.
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16583,00.html
EXTRA TIME FOR SPORTAL: Talks to secure the future of ailing sports
site Sportal are unlikely to be resolved until the weekend, meaning
the company has missed its self-imposed deadline for the conclusion of
negotiations. The firm is continuing to a number of potential backers
to secure the ?6 million (10 million euros) in cash that will take the
group through to profitability in the first quarter of next year.
Sportal has been generating monthly revenues of about $1 million (1.1
million euros) but has been hit recently by the downturn in online
advertising.
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16581,00.html
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16565,00.html
I OPENER: NTT DoCoMo's i-mode, the successful Japanese wireless
content service, may for the first time begin charging content
providers who wish to be carried on its platform, a senior DoCoMo
official has revealed. The service has built a customer base of 23
million over the past several years. Kiyoyuki Tsujimura, managing
director of NTT DoCoMo's global business department, asserted that the
service had grown so powerful that it could afford to assert itself
more aggressively.
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16566,00.html
COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN: Maximilian Ardelt, chief executive of BT's
German wireless operation Viag Interkom, is leaving the firm amid
disagreements over strategy and the financial position of the
business. Keith Cornell, BT Wireless's president of Europe, would
become acting CEO, the companies said. Viag executive Hans-Burhardt
Ziermann has also resigned. A source within Viag told The Industry
Standard: "[Ardelt] built the company... But he has much less say now
that BT has taken over."
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16564,00.html
BIG BLUE DEAL: IBM Global Services, a unit of the computer giant, has
sealed a deal valued at as much as $6.2 billion (7.2 billion euros) to
manage Fiat's technology infrastructure. IBM will also oversee the
2,600 consultants that work for the European vehicle manufacturer.
Fiat has signed an agreement to pay IBM $615 million (711 million
euros) for each year of the contract, which is expected to last
between seven and 10 years. The deal caps a string of recent successes
for the IBM Global Services group. Chairman Lou Gerstner said services
work would lead the company's future growth, and the unit generated
$33.1 billion (38.3 billion euros) in revenue for Big Blue in 2000.
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16567,00.html
ALCATEL TALKS: Shares in French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel
slumped following a report on Friday that the company was in talks to
buy US rival Lucent Technologies for slightly more than $40 billion
(46 billion euros). The New York Times reported that the two firms had
reached a crucial stage and that a decision on whether to proceed with
formal negotiations was expected within the next week. The report said
that if the companies decided to move forwards, a deal could be
announced by early June. Merger talks grew out of discussions about
the sale of Lucent's fibre-optic cable business. Alcatel declined to
comment on the report.
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16550,00.html
BROADBAND HORIZONS: EON, a new cable company, has secured ?265 million
(430 million euros) of backing to build a broadband cable network in
south-west Scotland and north-west England, an area previously
untouched by cable. The firm plans to connect 330,000 homes from
Kilmarnock down to Lancaster over the next three years. A total 1.5
million people live in the area, and the group expects to have its
first customers within six months. MadisonDearborn Partners and TD
Capital Communications Partners co-led the equity financing for the
project.
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16542,00.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BY THE NUMBERS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A new survey suggests nine out of 10 large-scale European companies
will maintain or increase their spending on IT in the coming year. The
research adds weight to the theory that the downturn in the European
technology sector will not be as marked as it has been on the other
side of the Atlantic.
http://www.thestandardeurope.com/article/display/0,1151,16584,00.html
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STAFF
~~~~~
Written by James Price. Send news tips and press releases to
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