Intel Corp chief executive Craig Barrett said Friday that the chip giant has injected tens of millions of dollars into Netherlands-based European internet service provider World Online International, which the ISP says it will use to expand the company across Europe and into the UK.
Intel periodically invests in ISPs outside of the US to increase the use of the internet worldwide and, as a logical extension, drive sales of its chips. Two weeks ago, the firm pumped roughly $200m into a 40/60 Asian ISP joint venture with Pacific Century Group for precisely that reason. WOL says it will now also start designing online content that will run optimally on Intel-based computing products, as part of the investment deal.
WOL operates in 12 European countries, including Scandinavia, France, Benelux and Spain, but has yet to break into the UK and Germany, acknowledged as the two largest internet markets in Europe. Its first foray into these countries will come this summer. Intel CEO Craig Barrett told a press conference that Holland and the UK have the potential to become hubs for e-commerce in Europe due to the high adoption of the internet and relatively mature cable markets.
