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Cable & Wireless

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Cable & Wireless Plc

CA 1999 / 1999 revenue: 12,8 MM$ (+9,4%)
Bénéfices 1999 / 1999 income: 1,5 MM$ (-32%)

The sun has set on the British Empire, but not on the far-flung holdings of Cable and Wireless (C&W). The international telecommunications firm owns majority stakes in Cable & Wireless HKT (Hong Kong's dominant telecom carrier), Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC, a leading UK telecom company) and Cable & Wireless Optus (Australia's #2 telecom company). All told, C&W operates in some 70 countries. But the company has been on a buying and selling spree as it focuses on business data services such as Internet access, data transport, and Web hosting. It is selling its stake in HKT and CWC's consumer cable TV and phone operations; meanwhile, C&W has been buying ISPs throughout Europe.

Cable & Wireless Communications

CA 1999 / 1999 revenue: 4,2 MM$ (+12,1%)
Bénéfices 1999 / 1999 income: 216 M$

One of the UK's leading cable TV companies, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) is quitting while it's ahead. The company, 53%-owned by Cable and Wireless, is selling its consumer business, including cable TV (860,000 subscribers), telephone (1.1 million), and Internet access (150,000) operations, to NTL. The remaining corporate telecommunications business will become part of Cable and Wireless; those offerings include voice and data services, wholesale ISP services, Web hosting, and transport of international traffic. Meanwhile, CWC has a 50% stake in Two Way TV, a producer of interactive TV programs, and it is introducing digital interactive TV services.

Cable & Wireless USA

CA 1999 / 1999 revenue: 1,3 MM$ (+8%)
Bénéfices 1999 / 1999 income: ?

The British Empire gave up its American colonies long ago, but the realm of the UK's Cable and Wireless extends across the US, thanks to subsidiary Cable & Wireless USA. The subsidiary provides voice and data telecommunications services to businesses. Cable & Wireless USA's still-expanding nationwide network (much of it gained from buying MCI's Internet operation) forms the basis for such data services as Internet access, frame relay data transport, remote access to networks, and Web hosting. The company provides wholesale Internet services to some 1,300 ISPs, and it provides traditional voice services, such as long-distance and calling card services, to some 40,000 small and midsized firms.

Télécoms / Telecom

• Cable & Wireless est le second plus gros telco en Grande-Bretagne (derrière BT):
  • en Angleterre, il s'est construit au fil des années son propre réseau local, même si celui-ci est encore loin de couvrir la totalité du territoire,
  • il détient 52,6% de Cable & Wireless Communications, créee avec Bell Atlantic (18,5%) et Bell Canada (14,2%),
  • il détient également 27% du câblo-opérateur TeleWest, les autres actionnaires étant AT&T (26,75%), Microsoft (39,9%) et SBC (10%)
• Dans le monde, l'opérateur britannique possède de nombreuses joint-ventures: AsiaSat (Hong Kong), Bezeq (Israël), Cable & Wireless Italia, Fiji International Communications, International Data Corp. (Japon), Oceanic Wireless Network (Philippines), Solomon Telekom, Taiwan Telecommunication Networks Services.
• Cable & Wireless a signé un partenariat avec Telecom Italia sur le marché européen, mais qui n'a pas duré.

• Cable & Wireless is the second largest carrier in Great Britain (behind BT):
  • in the UK it developped its own local network, even if it is still far from covering the whole country,
  • it holds 52.6% of Cable & Wireless Communications, created with Bell Atlantic (18.5%) and Bell Canada (14.2%).
  • it also holds 27% of cable operator TeleWest with AT&T (26.75%), Microsoft (39.9%) and SBC (10%)
• In the world, the carrier hold several joint-ventures: AsiaSat (Hong Kong), Bezeq (Israël), Cable & Wireless Italia, Fiji International Communications, International Data Corp. (Japan), Oceanic Wireless Network (Philippines), Solomon Telekom, Taiwan Telecommunication Networks Services.
• Cable & Wireless signed a partnership with Telecom Italia aiming the Europeen market, but which didn't last.

Contenant - Portail / Container - Portal

• Afin d'appaiser les craintes des régulateurs quant au monopole WorldCom/MCI sur Internet, MCI a décidé de vendre sa division Internet à Cable & Wireless pour 625 millions de dollars. Cela comprend les 22 noeuds et 15000 ports d'interconnexion. Cable & Wireless doit également supporter les 1300 ISP américains et internationaux (76 pays) en contrat avec MCI, celui-ci étant majoritairement revendeur d'accès Internet,
• l'opérateur britannique a cependant poursuivi en justice MCI WorldCom, l'accusant de ne pas avoir basculé l'intégralité des clients de MCI et d'essayer de démarcher les clients transférés par des pratiques commerciales déloyales.

• In order to assure the regulators that WorldCom/MCI wouldn't have a monopoly over the Internet, MCI decided to sell its Internet division to Cable & Wireless for $65 million. The deal includes 22 nodes and 15,000 interconnection ports. Cable & Wireless also supports the 1300 U.S. and international ISPs (in 76 countries) under contract with MCI, as the carrier was mostly an Internet reseller,
• however, the British carrier sued MCI WorldCom, accusing it not to have handled all the MCI customers as well as to try to get back the MCI customers through anti-competitive practices.

Joint-Ventures Internationales / International Joint-Ventures

L'opérateur britannique est très présent dans le monde entier, que ce soit par de nombreuses filiales internationales (non représentées ici), par une compétence dans les câbles sous-marins ou de nombreuses joint-ventures (particulièrement en Asie).

The British carrier has a worldwide presence, either through its numerous international subsidiaries (not represented here), through its submarine network skill or through several joint-ventures (espscially in Asia).