Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1999/01/04/c_w_buys_german_isp/

C&W buys German ISP for £27.5 million

European explansion going according to plan

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 4th January 1999 14:27 GMT

Cable & Wireless plc has bought German Internet Service Provider (ISP) ECRC Network Services for £27.5 million as part of its recently announced £1 billion five-year plan to build a European super network. The deal is expected to give the company direct access to the German corporate and wholesale Internet markets and according to one senior executive, forms a "vital part of our European expansion plan". Based in Munich -- the centre of the IT industry in Germany -- ECRC sells Internet access direct to its corporate customers and to other ISPs and has Internet points of presence (POPs) in all Germany's major cities. One of Germany's top five ISPs, ECRC is expected to turnover around £17 million in 1999. With confirmation of this acquisition, C&W now has a presence in the two largest Internet markets in Europe. Together, they account for nearly 60 per cent of the European Internet market. ®