Cable & Wireless Worldwide

 

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC

Type	Subsidiary (Public limited company)
Industry	Telecommunications
Founded	Origins (circa 1860) Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC (2010)
Headquarters	Bracknell, Berkshire, United Kingdom
Key people	Nick Jeffery (CEO)
Revenue	£2,257 million (2011)
Operating income	£170 million (2011)
Net income	£209 million (2011)
Owner(s)	Vodafone Group Plc
Website	www.cw.com

Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC (informally Cable & Wireless) is a British multinational telecommunications services company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone. It specialises in servicing large corporates, governments, carriers and resellers and its services include managed voice, data and IP based services. It has operations in Asia Pacific, Europe, India, the Middle East & Africa and North America. It was formed in 2010 through the split of Cable & Wireless plc into two companies, the other being Cable & Wireless Communications.

The origins of Cable and Wireless lie in a number of British telegraph companies founded in the 1860s. In 1928 the communications operations of the British Empire were merged into a single company, initially known as Imperial and International Communications Ltd, which became Cable and Wireless Limited in 1934. In the mid-1980s, it became the first company in the UK to offer an alternative telephone service to British Telecom (via subsidiary Mercury Communications, merged into C&W in 1997). The company later offered cable TV to its customers, but sold its cable assets to NTL in 2000. Cable & Wireless Worldwide was acquired by Vodafone in July 2012, with its shares being de-listed from the London Stock Exchange.

History

1860 to 1901

Cable and Wireless traces its history back to a number of British telegraph companies founded in the 1860s, and cites Sir John Pender as the founder. In 1869, Pender founded the Falmouth, Malta, Gibraltar Telegraph Company and the British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company, which connected the Anglo-Mediterranean cable (linking Malta to Alexandria using a cable manufactured by one of Pender's companies) to Britain and India, respectively. The London to Bombay telegraph line was completed in 1870, and in 1872 the three companies were merged with the Marseilles, Algiers and Malta Telegraph Company to form the Eastern Telegraph Company, with Pender as chairman.

The Eastern Telegraph Company expanded the cable length from 8,860 miles on its founding to 22,400 miles just 15 years later. The Company steadily took over a number of companies founded to connect the West Indies and South America, leading to a name change to The Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies.

1901 to 2001

The Eastern Telegraph Company network in 1901

With increasing competition from companies using radio communications such as Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company, it was decided in 1928 to merge the communications methods of the British Empire into one operating company, initially known as the Imperial and International Communications Ltd, later as Cable and Wireless Limited in 1934. The firm formed subsidiary corporations in various countries, such as the Indian Radio and Cable Communications Company in 1932, designed to oversee India's external communications with other countries.

Following the Labour Party's victory in the 1945 general elections, the government announced its intention to nationalise Cable and Wireless, which was carried out in 1947. While the company would remain in being as a government-owned company, continuing to own assets and operating telecommunication services outside the UK, all assets in the UK were integrated with those of the Post Office, which operated the UK's domestic telecommunications monopoly.

In 1979, the Conservative Party government led by Margaret Thatcher began privatising the nationalised industries, and Cable and Wireless was an early candidate because of its history as a private company. Privatisation was announced in 1980 and done in November 1981. Part of the privatisation included the granting of a licence for a UK telecommunications network, Mercury Communications Ltd, as a rival to British Telecom. It was established as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless.

In 1986, the US long distance industry was deregulated, and many new companies launched into the equal access market. A company called TDX Systems, based in Falls Church, VA, was one of these, with a footprint between Washington, DC and New York. TDX carried data (analog modem up to digital DS3), and built its own telephone switches at its engineering facility in Chantilly, VA. TDX voice switches, called "SSTs" (satellite switching terminal) were centrally controlled nationwide by Perkin-Elmer mainframes in Falls Church, VA, and were some of the first long distance switches to utilize least-cost routing, follow-on account codes and PINs. For a short time TDX touted a position of being one of the primary providers of phone and data service for the World Trade Center.

By 1987, TDX was rapidly expanding its leased fiber network westward, and by mid 1987 Cable and Wireless Communications plc had completed its purchase of the TDX network. For most of the late eighties, the long distance company was named Cable & Wireless Communications, Inc, and the fiber/data business was named Cable & Wireless Management Services, Inc., until the two divisions were merged. The CWCI U.S. network expanded nationwide throughout the late eighties and nineties, serving all major and some smaller markets.

In 1997, Mercury was merged with three cable operators in the UK (Vidéotron, Nynex, and Bell Cablemedia and renamed Cable & Wireless Communications. Later that year Cable & Wireless bought a 49% of the Panamanian INTEL (Instituto Nacional de Telecomunicaciones): it is now the largest communications carrier in that country.

In 1998, MCI Communications and WorldCom merged to create MCI WorldCom, the company's existing US subsidiary Cable and Wireless USA, Inc. purchased the MCI tier 1 backbone in the U.S.: prior to 1998 Cable & Wireless USA had merely operated a long distance telephone business and a small internet service.

The following year, in August 1999, Cable & Wireless Global was formed to build global IP and IP MPLS networks with a strategy to sell global IP services to corporates.

In December 2000, Cable and Wireless purchased Hyperlink-Interactive.

2001 to 2011

The former Cable & Wireless logo.

In November 2001, Cable and Wireless acquired the bankrupt co-location provider Exodus Communications for US$800 million, and Exodus' operations were then merged with the previously acquired Digital Island and renamed Cable and Wireless America. In May 2002, Cable and Wireless purchased Guernsey Telecoms from the States of Guernsey, and in November 2002 announced its withdrawal from the US corporate market, with operations being sold to Primus Telecom. In March 2004, SAVVIS Communications Corporation purchased Cable and Wireless America for US$155 million via the Chapter 11 creditor protection process, assuming liabilities of around US$12.5 million and assets including the former MCI IP backbone AS3561. Cable & Wireless acquired Energis for £674 million in August 2005, resulting in a reverse takeover in terms of senior management, with John Pluthero appointed from Energis to head the UK business and Francesco Caio departing by April 2006. Cable & Wireless cancelled its American Depositary Receipts programme in December 2005, voluntarily delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

In February 2007, Cable & Wireless sold the Web Technology Group, which focussed on internet systems for the UK government, and in March sold its cabling business Allnet. In September 2007, Cable & Wireless partnered with Content Guru to implement STORM, believed to be the largest interactive cloud-based platform in Europe, which would provide communications and data integration services to businesses and public sector organisations. In October 2008, Cable & Wireless completed the purchase of Thus plc, which was rebranded as "Thus, a Cable&Wireless business". In November 2009, the Cable and Wireless plc Board announced its intention to separate the Cable & Wireless Communications Group and the Cable & Wireless Worldwide Group, reflecting its belief that the businesses had reached a position where they would deliver increased value to shareholders as separately listed companies. On 26 March 2010, Cable & Wireless Communications demerged as the former CWI Group business (Cable & Wireless International) from Cable and Wireless plc and was listed as a public company on the London Stock Exchange. Cable & Wireless plc became Cable & Wireless Worldwide.

2011 to present

After the group's split from Caribbean-focused Cable & Wireless Communications in March 2010, CWW went through a tumultuous period - its shares, which hit a high of 98.5 pence after the split, valuing the group at $4.25 billion; fell to 13 pence in November 2011, increasing speculation it would be a takeover target.

On 28 June 2011, the board of Cable & Wireless Worldwide accepted the resignation of Jim Marsh and announced that John Pluthero, the then-Chairman, would become Chief Executive. On 14 November 2011, Cable & Wireless Worldwide announced that it has appointed the fomer Vodafone Group executive Gavin Darby as its new chief executive.

On 23 April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide for £1.04 billion.

Vodafone, who was looking to strengthen its integrated corporate services business arm - Vodafone Global Enterprise, bid for CWW with Tata Communications Ltd. also in the fray. Vodafone became the sole bidder after Tata group withdrew; and on 23 April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire the operations of CWW for £1.04 billion in cash. On 18 June 2012, CWW shareholders voted in favour of the Vodafone offer, exceeding the 75% of shares necessary for the deal to go ahead. Vodafone was advised by UBS AG, while Barclays and Rothschild advised Cable & Wireless.

The acquisition will give Vodafone access to CWW's fibre network for businesses, enabling it to take unified communications solutions to large enterprises in UK and globally; and expand its enterprise integration service offerings in emerging markets.

On 18 June 2012, Cable & Wireless' shareholders voted in favour of the "Vodafone offer" in the general meeting. The purchase was completed on 30 July 2012, and one-time CWW employee and CEO of Vodafone Global Enterprise Nick Jefferey was appointed as CEO of CWW.

Operations

Current

Cable & Wireless is the third-largest supplier of IP services to FTSE350 customers^{[citation needed]}. However, with recent cable company consolidation it can no longer claim its position as the second largest UK fixed player. The fortunes of the international wholesale telecoms division of C&W UK is significant - accounting for over one third of UK revenues. Indeed, its international wholesale voice operation and European IP network (AS1273) remain sizable, but commercially struggling.

Following acquisition of Energis in August 2005, C&W strengthened its UK position but still have only half the Internet Access corporate market share of former incumbent (BT). Former CEO Francesco Caio publicly stated the aim of making C&W the preferred alternative to BT in the UK. John Pluthero, on his accession in the Energis management takeover, modified this to be the leading UK IP services company.

C&W also bought Bulldog Communications in the UK, providing it with an LLU network as well as a consumer broadband Internet service provider. During aggressive expansion it gained a poor reputation for provisioning and customer service. Falling new sales and a strategy change led C&W to sell the brand and customer base to Pipex in September 2006. It continues to own, and wholesale on, the LLU capability.

Former

Cable & Wireless HKT was the Hong Kong operations of British-based telecom firm Cable & Wireless and was established in the then British colony in 1934. It was not until 1981 that the unit formally registered as a Hong Kong company, Cable and Wireless (Hong Kong) Limited. In 1988 Cable and Wireless (Hong Kong) Limited merged with Hong Kong Telephone Company as Hong Kong Telecom. It was renamed as Cable and Wireless HKT International in 1998. CWHKT was acquired by PCCW Limited in 2000.

Controversy

Shareholder groups have repeatedly warned about excessive executive remuneration at the company. Before it split into two separately listed companies in early 2010, Cable & Wireless suffered one of the biggest shareholder rebellions in 2009 when 38pc of the shareholder register failed to back the company's pay policy at a fiery meeting. The company's highly controversial long-term incentive plan (LTIP) is calculated on 10% of the company valuation and is claimed to pay out to senior managers, in fact the members of the LTIP are only the executive directors who for the year 2009/2010 share a £60 million bonus pool.

See also

• All Red Line
• Cable & Wireless (Caribbean)
• Imperial Wireless Chain
• Sure (Cable & Wireless)

External links

• Cable & Wireless