Dot Com News from Week of May 7, 2001

• 5/11/01 - The following was posted on the Bidland.com Web site: "Bidland Systems, Inc. regrets to announce that it is indefinitely suspending operations on May 13, 2001. No more sign ups will be taken at this time. Thank you for your support."
• 5/11/01 - Ascendant Solutions, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has determined that the capital requirements under its existing business plan for fiscal year 2001 are greater than currently available capital resources. The Board has therefore taken action to immediately reduce the size and scope of operations and to reduce the Company's work force.
• 5/11/01 - The Board of Directors of Verida Internet Corp. has concluded that Verida's financial condition no longer makes it a viable going concern and has determined to cease operations. Verida builds and operates e-commerce hubs in industries that have fragmented markets or inefficient supply chains.
• 5/11/01 - Network Access Solutions Corp., a broadband telecommunications provider, said it is laying off "nearly 150" workers in an effort to cut expenses by half.
• 5/11/01 - Telecommunications firm Teligent Inc. laid off 900 workers, nearly 40 percent of its work force, as company executives faced a debt payment deadline of next week that requires it to obtain $350 million in financing. The layoffs leave Vienna-based Teligent with about 1,400 employees, down from a high of 3,400 a year ago.
• 5/10/01 - AOL Time Warner Inc.'s 24-hour Cable News Network will layoff a "handful" of the 25 employees at its European Internet operations.
• 5/10/01 - InteliData Technologies Corp. is in the midst of laying off 135 employees, or 43 percent of its staff, by the end of July.
• 5/10/01 - Siemens AG, the German engineering and telecommunications company, said it will eliminate an additional 2,000 positions at its communications-networks division. Last month, Siemens announced a total of 6,100 cuts as its communications units posted disappointing results for the second fiscal quarter, ended March 31.
• 5/10/01 - Nortel Networks Corp. has shut down its once-touted digital-subscriber-line, or DSL, division as part of the telecom-equipment company's continuing retrenchment. Some Nortel DSL employees were let go this week, but it isn't clear how many people are affected by the move.
• 5/9/01 - Litronic Inc., a leading provider of authentication and encryption security technology, announced cost reduction measures with the objective of lowering its annualized cost structure by $2.5 million-$3 million. Litronic's comprehensive cost reduction plan includes a 20 percent decrease in the company workforce and a restructuring into more focused product groups.
• 5/9/01 - DataZen Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and cut staff while scaling back an ill-fated initiative to sell software to telecommunications companies. The company also has closed its Herndon headquarters office, opened just last fall. DataZen's workforce, which stood at about 105 employees last November, is down to roughly 25 workers.
• 5/9/01 - Atlanta-based consulting and services company iXL Enterprises Inc. has laid off an undisclosed number of workers in its Vienna and Richmond offices. The layoffs were part of a company-wide reduction of 300 employees, or 23 percent of iXL's workforce.
• 5/9/01 - Questia Media Inc., which offers an online subscription-based research service to undergraduate college students, laid off 139 workers. Questia, which launched in January, currently has over 35,000 books and journals digitized and available to its subscribers. The company said it is slowing down the pace at which it is digitizing books and no longer needs as many employees.
• 5/9/01 - Exodus Communications Inc., a leading operator of Internet data centers, said that it will cut 15 percent of its work force, or about 675 jobs.
• 5/8/01 - National Semiconductor warned that its revenue and earnings will fall short of Wall Street estimates and that it will eliminate 1,100 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force.
• 5/8/01 - WebMD, which links insurers, doctors and patients online, said its first-quarter loss widened to $1.04 billion as it integrated acquisitions and ended contracts. The company will eliminate 350 jobs, bringing to 1,450 the number of positions cut since September.
• 5/8/01 - Emachines said it has asked Credit Suisse First Boston to help it evaluate "strategic alternatives," which could include putting itself up for sale. If so, Emachines would become the second PC maker to go on the block this year. Micron Electronics sold its PC division to Gores Technology Group last week. Micron will now focus on developing an Internet hosting business.
• 5/8/01 - Nettaxi.com, a community and portal Web site, has reduced staff as part of its ongoing effort to decrease expenses, build revenue and enhance shareholder value. Combined with the restructuring and adjustments to management compensation announced in April, the company will save nearly $2 million annually. The company has a total of 10 employees after this reduction.
• 5/8/01 - Lastminute.com, online travel agent and ticket-booker, said that it has begun to cut around 15% of its work force and expects its operations in the United Kingdom and France to be profitable within 12 months.
• 5/8/01 - Spanish Internet service provider Terra Lycos said it would slash its workforce by 15 percent as it announced a reduction in its core losses in the first quarter. The world's third-largest ISP, with a presence in 42 countries, Terra Lycos had over 3,352 employees at the end of the first quarter. The company, which is struggling to stem losses in a tougher advertising market, did not specify when or where the layoffs would occur.
• 5/7/01 - Dell Computer Corp., the world's largest PC manufacturer, said it will cut 3,000 to 4,000 jobs and require other employees to take unpaid time off as it wrestles with weak demand for computer systems and services.
• 5/7/01 - Networking equipment maker 3Com said it would cut its work force by 3,000 people, or 30 percent, in an effort to trim costs by $1 billion.
• 5/7/01 - Major restructuring at Network Commerce continues. Staffing levels have been reduced from 660 in October 2000 to 220 today. Certain businesses -- including ShopNow.com, SpeedyClick.com, PriceCrazy.com, Uberworks, and Bottomdollar.com -- have been shut down, several facilities and locations closed and a number of other assets impaired. The Company is exploring strategic alternatives, which may include a merger, an asset sale, additional equity or debt investment in the Company by either a strategic or financial investor or another comparable transaction or a financial restructuring.
• 5/7/01 - Portal Software said that it will miss first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates by a wide margin and will lay off staff, shut facilities and write off assets to cut costs. Portal Software makes infrastructure, customer-management and billing software for broadband, wireless Internet and communications companies.