A tier one Internet service provider and a wireless broadband provider are soon to have their hands in each other`s pockets, by the sound of things. A tier one Internet service provider and a wireless broadband provider are soon to have their hands in each other`s pockets, by the sound of things. You didn`t hear it from us. We didn`t say it. None of this happened.

UUNET IS A reliable source of speculation. The Last Byte likes to give recognition to its deep throats by publishing their theories and insider insights, while not in any way standing by them. Amusingly, the (possibly lone) remaining director is said to have a fishing habit. That`s nice. So do we. We learn unreliably, furthermore, that MCI`s planned restructuring process involves roughly 13% of UUNET`s work force, including names still being seen in the media. Ouch. We didn`t want to fish that one out. One interesting comment from our informer deserves publication as is: If MCI`s strategy is to downscale the operation and make UUNET Africa a mere node of their global operation - that`s fine and acceptable. If MCI is positioning itself as an IP wholesaler in Africa, and this requires a fundamental restructure of the company - that`s fine and acceptable. If MCI has any form of aggressive strategy to grow in Africa and position itself as an ISP industry-leader, and this requires a fundamental restructure of the company - that`s fine and acceptable. All that the staff require is a clear communication of the strategic direction of the business, and then a fair approach to rolling out the required changes. We won`t go into detail, but it`s not the first person at UUNET to make this last charge.

Final Bytes

A CHILLING THOUGHT: if you approach the credit bureaux, you can get quite a lot of dope on the chaps you`re dealing with. Consider the terms "fly-by-night", "cowboy" and "shady dealings". Don`t they apply just wonderfully well to some of the ICT-related characters one sometimes run into? Well, it`s a brave new world, full of notions of good corporate governance, and perhaps there is recourse against these types after all. Astounding insight is a query away.

AH, NETWORKING. What is going on there, guys? If we don`t hear of a prominent distributor making just half its targets, we hear of a reseller customer, which, curiously, invoices like there`s no tomorrow, but cannot pay its disti bills. Can someone explain this to us? And why is a networking vendor that features prominently in the lives of both these companies the subject of worried discussion? At The Last Byte, we can only worry. Since we`re not Catholic, we can`t even tell anyone!

AFTER DIGGING to a depth of 100 metres last year, Russian scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1000 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network one thousand years ago.