World Online buys Localtel
Pan-European ISP World Online continues its shopping spree Thursday with the acquisition of telecommunications firm Localtel -- parent of Screaming.net -- in preparation to launch yet another unmetered Internet access deal in Britain. Financial details were not revealed.
A spokesman says WorldOnline is currently thrashing out the details of its planned unmetered service and that an announcement is likely to be announced within weeks.
The spokesman would not disclose whether the deal would include transferring Screaming.net customers to World Online although he says the issue is being discussed.
World Online has been hotly tipped to give the likes of Freeserve and AOL a run for their money in the free access market. It recently added the Sun's 450,000-strong ISP, Bun.com to its growing empire and more acquisitions are expected.
The Dutch-based firm last month issued a warning to Freeserve about its intentions to muscle in on the "free" Internet access market in the UK.
In a statement World Online CEO Simon Preston said: "The Localtel expertise will help us refine our free subscription and free access model, thereby ensuring that we have a portfolio to suit every individual consumer."
Who else is in World Online's shopping trolly