News Wrap: BT, L&H, Palm, DSL, ONdigital

BT is offering customers free internet and email access via its internet-enabled phone kiosks for the next five months.

The offer, which runs from today until 14 June, will give the 60 per cent of the population that does not have internet access a chance to get online, according to BT.

The Multi.phone terminal, which has a 12-inch full-colour touch-sensitive screen, is part of BT's aim to reinvent the phone box as a multimedia kiosk. There are just under 600 Multi.phones available across the UK.

Lernout & Hauspie ousts chief executive

Speech recognition software firm Lernout & Hauspie, which has been granted bankruptcy protection by a Belgian court, has appointed a new chief executive after a board meeting voted to oust John Duerden from the position.

L&H's board forced Duerden to step down at a meeting last night and named Belgian Philippe Bodson as chief executive. L&H co-founder Jo Lernout has also resigned from the company's board, but will remain as chief technology officer.

Palm loses chief technology officer

Handheld computer maker Palm has said its chief technology officer, Bill Maggs, has resigned from the company after only a year in the post.

Maggs said he plans to "pursue outside opportunities related to the next phase of the internet". Palm, which has not found a replacement, said Maggs will continue as a consultant to the company.

Palm is expected to release a new operating system for personal digital assistants in the near future, and is stepping up efforts to license the Palm OS to other mobile device makers.

Telco scraps UK DSL offering

Yet another company has scrapped plans to offer high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) internet access in the UK.

Versatel joins WorldCom, Global Crossing and RSL Communications on the list of telcos to withdraw DSL plans.

Meanwhile, Bulldog Communications, a DSL startup seeking to raise £40m, has decided not to operate in all of the 25 exchanges it won access to in the first wave of local loop unbundling in September.

ONdigital pulls in one million subscribers

Pay TV group ONdigital has said that it met its one million subscriber target for 2000, and had 1.012 million customers by 31 December, up 134,000 in the last three months and 83 per cent for the year.

Chief executive Stuart Prebble said: "We have reached our first one million sales by the end of 2000. We've achieved it faster than Sky, faster than any cable company, faster than Vodafone, Orange or Cellnet."