US jobs cuts, Freeserve goes unmetered and Letsbuyit's lifeline

NEWS Two of the largest high-tech firms in the US have shed a combined total of over 12,000 jobs. US telco Lucent has axed 10,000 staff as part of a major restructuring plan that the company hopes will save in excess of $2bn per year to curtail mounting annual losses. Newly formed media and internet behemoth AOL Time Warner has also announced a cull of its staff - with 2,000 employees soon to be reacquainted with their P45. The cuts at the forward-thinking company are all coming in its old media sectors - with staff at Time magazine, Warner Music and Warner Bros being moved out. The internet side of the operation, driven by ISP AOL seems largely unscathed, redressing some of the relative balance in the old economy boom, new economy gloom equation... Another ISP making the news is Freeserve, who the Guardian reports has entered the unlimited net access arena. Freeserve, now owned by French ISP Wanadoo, has launched an 'all you can eat' 24-hour internet access package for £12.99 per month. The offer, which undercuts it nearest competitor's rival package by £2 is likely to be the event that begins a war in the internet access market place... Finally, a slightly unexpected bit of good news for the folks at beleaguered Letsbuyit.com, who have received eleventh hour intervention to pluck it from the jaws of bankruptcy. The Financial Times reports that the online retailer, who staved off bankruptcy by a matter of minutes when it raised E4m (£2.5m) to pay its trustees last night, has secured a further E50m (£31.5m) of much needed investment and may have turned the corner. The company has reported a two-fold increase in fourth quarter revenue and is doubtless sitting a little more comfortably this morning...