World Online

World Online (complete name: World Online France; internal nickname: WOLF) was a Fournisseur of access to Internet French created fine 1998 by World Online International (WOLI, the head office located with the Netherlands) and by other shareholders of which Bouygues Telecom.

History

The pionnière offer

World Online was made known on the French market by proposing as of on April 1st 1999 an offer of unlimited access in STN. Exemption from payment of the subscription and only invoicing of the consumed minutes never not having hitherto been proposed.

This offer was presented for the first 200.000 inscriptions. This expiry will never be reached, the financial storm which was going to carry the group stopping this campaign.

The crash

Shortly after the introduction of the group out of purse the March 17th 2000 with an opening price of 43 euros, an accounting scandal bursts, in particular around the person of Nina Brink, leading of the European group, shown to have yielded its shares before the price of 6 euros. The action whose course was quickly assembled to more than 50 euros falls brutally and loses more than 80% of its quotation. The April 13rd 2000, Nina Brink is relieved of its station of CEO.

This business will contribute to the collapse of the " Bubble Internet " in Europe.

Like other hexagonal FAI (LibertySurf, Infonie, Freesbee, etc), World Online France will be repurchased in spring 2001 by the Italian operator Tiscali, whose activities were then taken again by Alice (group Telecom Italia France).

External bonds

an account of the adventure World Online (IN)

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