European Commission re-opens Intel probe

The European Commission has said that it has re-opened its investigation in monopolistic practices by Intel. The office of the Competition Commissioner, Mario Monti, has said that the investigation is in 'a new fact finding phase'. European regulators will be re-examining allegations by AMD in 2000 that Intel has used its financial and market muscle to prevent AMD from winning contracts. ...more

PlusNet unveils pay as you go pricing model for services up to 8Mbps

PlusNet has announced a significant overhaul of its broadband services, offering speeds up to 8Mbps and a new usage-based payment system. The ISPs Premier customers will be able to choose the speed of their connection but will be charged purely on the basis of the amount of downstream peak-time capacity they use; broadband usage between 1am and 8am will be entirely unrestricted. Monthly charges are as follows: ?21. ...more

Vodafone and TomTom team on cellular nav system

Mobile phone signals sent from traffic jams will enable a real-time travel information service, British telecoms group Vodafone and Dutch navigation systems company TomTom said on Friday. The service will be available in the Netherlands in the second half of 2007, using the Dutch Vodafone network. 'I would just be happy to put a smile on customers' faces by helping them get out of the traffic jams they find themselves in on a regular basis,' Guy Laurence, the chief executive of Vodafone Netherlands said in a statement. ...more

Tiscali giant consumes Tiny Online morsel

Tiscali, the Italian ISP that can't stop acquiring other companies, has struck again, agreeing to buy Tiny Online. Tiny Online, which has over 650,000 subscribers, is being offloaded by Tiny Computers so that it can concentrate on the PC sales business. The service was launched back in 1999, since when the ISP market has consolidated somewhat. ...more

Analysis: Another delay for WEEE

The European dream of responsible disposal of hazardous computing waste should be a reality by now, but another legislative delay means UK computer manufacturers, retailers and recyclers remain in landfill limbo. The Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directive - the recycling framework set by the EU - was meant to pass into UK law in August last year, but another DTI setback means there's now no concrete date for enforcing it. This foot-dragging leaves several industries on tenterhooks: manufacturers don't know what recycling-friendly design improvements are required, retailers are still debating who should bear additional distribution costs and recyclers don't know how best to invest in new disassembly plants. ...more