US telco Quest Communications International Inc has completed the $26m cash purchase of German ISP Xlink Internet Service GmbH, and now claims it has access to 80% of the world’s internet users. Qwest announced Monday that it had paid $12.7m for the 50% of Xlink, Germany’s second-largest ISP, it did not own. The company gained its original 50% stake March 1998, as part of its $154.4m acquisition of Dutch ISP EUnet International BV. The Xlink acquisition increases the weight of Qwest’s involvement in the European ISP market, which began with EUnet. Last month KPNQuest, a joint venture with Dutch telco KPN NV completed the first of six European optical fiber networks which will eventually span 14,000km and link more than 30 European cities.