Cable & Wireless Communications
Encyclopedia
Cable & Wireless plc demerged in 2010 into Cable & Wireless Communications and Cable & Wireless Worldwide. For the other former C&W plc business, see Cable & Wireless Worldwide
Cable & Wireless Communications plc is a telecommunication
s company with operations in the Caribbean
, Panama
, Macau and Monaco & Islands. The company was formed when Cable & Wireless
plc demerged in 2010 to form two companies (the other is Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc). It is currently listed on the London Stock Exchange
and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
as of 30 March 2010.
The original Cable and Wireless plc embraced over 50 telegraph, radio and telecom companies and can trace its history back to the 1860s.
The company was founded by Sir John Pender
, a Manchester cotton merchant, who was a financier of the Great Eastern Ship which laid the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866, beginning a new era of international telegraph communications.
In 1869, Pender founded the Falmouth, Gibraltar and Malta Cable 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. The London to Bombay cable was the first to land at Porthcurno in Cornwall , a location which became the company’s global hub and is now home to its archive and a telegraph museum.
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 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.
The rise of wireless
From 1900 the near-monopoly on international communications enjoyed by the cable companies came under threat from the development of wireless radio technology. Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company
gradually developed a chain of ships using short-wave radio communications which could commercially compete with undersea cables. In 1924 Marconi succeeded in telephoning Australia using short wave radio and in the same year was given a contract by the British Post Office to set up circuits with Canada, Australia, South Africa and India (called the Post Office beam wireless service).
The 1928 Imperial Wireless & Cable Conference was convened to establish the best way to manage these two technologies and protect British interests. This led to a decision to merge the communications methods of the British Empire
into one operating company, initially known as the Imperial and International Communications Ltd, and changed to Cable and Wireless Limited in 1934.
Nationalisation and privatisation
Following the Labour Party
's victory in the 1945 general election, the government announced its intention to nationalise Cable and Wireless, which was carried out in 1947. The company continued to own assets and operate telecommunication services outside the UK, but 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. Cable & Wireless was its first privatisation, with the sale of 49% in November 1981 (the remaining 53% was sold in two tranches in 1983 and 1985).
Mercury Communications
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. Barclays and British Petroleum were the other original investors. They were bought out by Cable & Wireless in 1984. Mercury Communications was first licensed in 1982 and became a full Public Telecommunications Operator in 1984.
One 2 One was established as the trading name of Mercury Personal Communications, a joint venture partnership equally owned by Cable & Wireless and US West International, a division of US WEST Media Group. One 2 One introduced Britain’s first mobile network in 1993.
In October 1996, Mercury was merged with three cable operators in the UK ((Vidéotron
, Nynex
and Bell Cable media) and renamed Cable & Wireless Communications (in which Cable & Wireless PlC owned a 53% stake)..
Following this, the Group embarked on a major disposal programme, selling One 2 One to T Mobile in 1999 , then selling its stake in CWC’s consumer operations to NTL in 2000 (now Virgin Media).
International Expansion
During the eighties and nineties Cable & Wireless entered several markets which remain important parts of the Cable & Wireless Communications Group.
In October 1981 the Government of Macau reached agreement with Cable & Wireless Plc to establish its first telecommunications supplier. The company was called Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau S.A.R.L (CTM).
In 1999, Cable & Wireless bought a 49% share of the Panamanian INTEL (Instituto Nacional de Telecomunicaciones. The company is now called Cable & Wireless Panama.
In May 2002 Cable and Wireless purchased Guernsey Telecoms from the States of Guernsey
The company, re-branded as Sure in 2007, remains the leading provider in its home market and provides back-office services for businesses the Group subsequently started up in Jersey (2004) and the Isle of Man (2007).
In 2004, the Group purchased a controlling stake in Monaco Telecom from Vivendi Universal.
In August 2005 Cable & Wireless bought Energis for £674m. Several members of Energis' senior management team took up prominent positions in the Group.
Demerger
By 2006 it was clear that Cable & Wireless had evolved into two separate companies. Sir Richard Lapthorne (who became Chairman of the Group in 2003 and is now Chairman of Cable & Wireless Communications), took the decision to set the business on the path to demerger by splitting it into two divisions – Cable & Wireless International (which managed telecommunications companies across the globe) and Cable & Wireless Europe, Asia and US (which was focused on the enterprise market with a strong presence in the UK).
In November 2009, the Cable and Wireless plc Board announced its intention to demerge, reflecting its belief that the businesses had reached a position where they would deliver increased value to shareholders as separately listed companies.
The companies demerged on 26 March 2010 into Cable & Wireless Communications (formerly Cable & Wireless International) and Cable & Wireless Worldwide (formerly Cable & Wireless Europe, Asia and US).
Panama
Its Panama business, which trades as Cable & Wireless Panama, is the market leader for mobile, fixed line and broadband services in that country. They also provide pay TV services and corporate telecoms services to enterprises and governments.
It is a leader in its region in providing social telecoms – telecoms-enabled public services. For example, Cable & Wireless Panama has built a telemammography network, which is helping Panamanian women to get better access to medical care.
Macau
CTM remains the only full service telecommunications supplier in Macau and is the market leader in providing mobile, broadband and fixed line services.
In 2010 it introduced a 100 megabits per second fibre to the home broadband service, one of the fastest residential services at that time anywhere in the world.
Caribbean
In the Caribbean Cable & Wireless Communications trades as LIME, except in The Bahamas where the business is branded The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).
Cable & Wireless Communications companies are market leaders in 10 out of 14 territories where it supplies mobile services, all the territories where it supplies fixed line services and 13 out of the 14 islands in which it provides broadband services.
LIME also provides entertainment services and in December 2010 introduced the Caribbean’s first mobile TV service in Jamaica.
Cable & Wireless Communications also owns a minority stake (49%) in Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), the leading telecoms supplier in that country.
Monaco & Islands
Monaco & Islands is a portfolio business operating in territories within Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Within this portfolio, the Group’s Monaco, Maldives and Guernsey operations together account for about 84% of EBITDA.
Monaco Telecom, CTM owns (49%), is the leading provider of mobile, fixed line, broadband and pay TV services within Monaco. Monaco Telecom International, a subsidiary of that business, which owns Afinis Communications in Africa (a telecoms services supplier to large enterprises) and has a joint venture holding in Roshan
(Afghanistan’s largest mobile operator) and PTK
(a telecommunications provider in Kosovo).
In the Maldives Cable & Wireless Communications owns a controlling interest in Dhiraagu (Dhivehi Raajjeyge Gulhun Private Limited) the country’s leading provider of mobile, broadband and fixed line telecommunication services. Dhiraagu has also successfully launched mobile broadband services to improve internet connectivity for residents and the many high end tourists who visit the islands.
The Channel Islands and Isle of Man business, which trades as Sure, provides mobile, broadband, fixed line and enterprise services across several islands. In Guernsey the Group has also developed a successful datacentre business which hosts a number of international online gaming clients.
The Monaco & Islands region also includes a number of other smaller business which deliver telecommunications services to remote locations including Ascension Island, St Helena, the Falkland Islands, the Seychelles, Diego Garcia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji.
Cable & Wireless Communications plc is a telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s company with operations in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Macau and Monaco & Islands. The company was formed when Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. Cable & Wireless specialises in providing communication networks and services to large corporates, governments, carrier customers and resellers...
plc demerged in 2010 to form two companies (the other is Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc). It is currently listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...
as of 30 March 2010.
History
Transatlantic cablesThe original Cable and Wireless plc embraced over 50 telegraph, radio and telecom companies and can trace its history back to the 1860s.
The company was founded by Sir John Pender
John Pender
Sir John Pender , British Submarine communications cable pioneer, was born in the Vale of Leven, Scotland, and after attending school in Glasgow became a successful merchant in textile fabrics in that city and in Manchester; where he had a warehouse in Peter street near The Great Northern Warehouse...
, a Manchester cotton merchant, who was a financier of the Great Eastern Ship which laid the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866, beginning a new era of international telegraph communications.
In 1869, Pender founded the Falmouth, Gibraltar and Malta Cable Company and the British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company, which connected the Anglo-Mediterranean cable (linking Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
to Alexandria using a cable manufactured by one of Pender's companies) to Britain and India, respectively. The London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Bombay telegraph line was completed in 1870. The London to Bombay cable was the first to land at Porthcurno in Cornwall , a location which became the company’s global hub and is now home to its archive and a telegraph museum.
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 steadily took over a number of companies founded to connect the West Indies and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, leading to a name change to The Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies.
From 1900 the near-monopoly on international communications enjoyed by the cable companies came under threat from the development of wireless radio technology. Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company
Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is often credited as the inventor of radio, and indeed he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand...
gradually developed a chain of ships using short-wave radio communications which could commercially compete with undersea cables. In 1924 Marconi succeeded in telephoning Australia using short wave radio and in the same year was given a contract by the British Post Office to set up circuits with Canada, Australia, South Africa and India (called the Post Office beam wireless service).
The 1928 Imperial Wireless & Cable Conference was convened to establish the best way to manage these two technologies and protect British interests. This led to a decision to merge the communications methods of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
into one operating company, initially known as the Imperial and International Communications Ltd, and changed to Cable and Wireless Limited in 1934.
Nationalisation and privatisation
Following the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
's victory in the 1945 general election, the government announced its intention to nationalise Cable and Wireless, which was carried out in 1947. The company continued to own assets and operate telecommunication services outside the UK, but 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
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
government led by Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
began privatising the nationalised industries. Cable & Wireless was its first privatisation, with the sale of 49% in November 1981 (the remaining 53% was sold in two tranches in 1983 and 1985).
Mercury Communications
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. Barclays and British Petroleum were the other original investors. They were bought out by Cable & Wireless in 1984. Mercury Communications was first licensed in 1982 and became a full Public Telecommunications Operator in 1984.
One 2 One was established as the trading name of Mercury Personal Communications, a joint venture partnership equally owned by Cable & Wireless and US West International, a division of US WEST Media Group. One 2 One introduced Britain’s first mobile network in 1993.
In October 1996, Mercury was merged with three cable operators in the UK ((Vidéotron
Vidéotron
Vidéotron GP is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, cable telephony, wireless communication and Internet access services. Currently, the company primarily serves Quebec, as well as the francophone...
, Nynex
NYNEX
NYNEX Corporation was a telephone company that served five New England states as well as most of New York state, except the Rochester area, from 1984 through 1997....
and Bell Cable media) and renamed Cable & Wireless Communications (in which Cable & Wireless PlC owned a 53% stake)..
Following this, the Group embarked on a major disposal programme, selling One 2 One to T Mobile in 1999 , then selling its stake in CWC’s consumer operations to NTL in 2000 (now Virgin Media).
International Expansion
During the eighties and nineties Cable & Wireless entered several markets which remain important parts of the Cable & Wireless Communications Group.
In October 1981 the Government of Macau reached agreement with Cable & Wireless Plc to establish its first telecommunications supplier. The company was called Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau S.A.R.L (CTM).
In 1999, Cable & Wireless bought a 49% share of the Panamanian INTEL (Instituto Nacional de Telecomunicaciones. The company is now called Cable & Wireless Panama.
In May 2002 Cable and Wireless purchased Guernsey Telecoms from the States of Guernsey
States of Guernsey
The States of Guernsey is the parliament of the island of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guernsey also apply to Alderney and Sark as "Bailiwick-wide legislation" with the consent of the governments of those islands...
The company, re-branded as Sure in 2007, remains the leading provider in its home market and provides back-office services for businesses the Group subsequently started up in Jersey (2004) and the Isle of Man (2007).
In 2004, the Group purchased a controlling stake in Monaco Telecom from Vivendi Universal.
In August 2005 Cable & Wireless bought Energis for £674m. Several members of Energis' senior management team took up prominent positions in the Group.
Demerger
By 2006 it was clear that Cable & Wireless had evolved into two separate companies. Sir Richard Lapthorne (who became Chairman of the Group in 2003 and is now Chairman of Cable & Wireless Communications), took the decision to set the business on the path to demerger by splitting it into two divisions – Cable & Wireless International (which managed telecommunications companies across the globe) and Cable & Wireless Europe, Asia and US (which was focused on the enterprise market with a strong presence in the UK).
In November 2009, the Cable and Wireless plc Board announced its intention to demerge, reflecting its belief that the businesses had reached a position where they would deliver increased value to shareholders as separately listed companies.
The companies demerged on 26 March 2010 into Cable & Wireless Communications (formerly Cable & Wireless International) and Cable & Wireless Worldwide (formerly Cable & Wireless Europe, Asia and US).
Operations
Cable & Wireless Communications operates telecoms businesses across the globe through four regional businesses – Panama, Macau, the Caribbean and Monaco & Islands. As of March 30, 2011 the Group has 10.7 million mobile customers, 1.6 million fixed line customers and 630,000 broadband customers. The Group also has successful carrier, enterprise and pay TV operations.Panama
Its Panama business, which trades as Cable & Wireless Panama, is the market leader for mobile, fixed line and broadband services in that country. They also provide pay TV services and corporate telecoms services to enterprises and governments.
It is a leader in its region in providing social telecoms – telecoms-enabled public services. For example, Cable & Wireless Panama has built a telemammography network, which is helping Panamanian women to get better access to medical care.
Macau
CTM remains the only full service telecommunications supplier in Macau and is the market leader in providing mobile, broadband and fixed line services.
In 2010 it introduced a 100 megabits per second fibre to the home broadband service, one of the fastest residential services at that time anywhere in the world.
Caribbean
In the Caribbean Cable & Wireless Communications trades as LIME, except in The Bahamas where the business is branded The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).
Cable & Wireless Communications companies are market leaders in 10 out of 14 territories where it supplies mobile services, all the territories where it supplies fixed line services and 13 out of the 14 islands in which it provides broadband services.
LIME also provides entertainment services and in December 2010 introduced the Caribbean’s first mobile TV service in Jamaica.
Cable & Wireless Communications also owns a minority stake (49%) in Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), the leading telecoms supplier in that country.
Monaco & Islands
Monaco & Islands is a portfolio business operating in territories within Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Within this portfolio, the Group’s Monaco, Maldives and Guernsey operations together account for about 84% of EBITDA.
Monaco Telecom, CTM owns (49%), is the leading provider of mobile, fixed line, broadband and pay TV services within Monaco. Monaco Telecom International, a subsidiary of that business, which owns Afinis Communications in Africa (a telecoms services supplier to large enterprises) and has a joint venture holding in Roshan
Roshan (telco)
Roshan is Afghanistan's leading telecommunications provider, serving approximately 3.5 million active subscribers.In January 2003, Roshan was awarded the second GSM license in Afghanistan at a time when there was virtually no telecommunications infrastructure in place; national calls were...
(Afghanistan’s largest mobile operator) and PTK
Post and Telecom of Kosovo
Post and Telecom of Kosovo is the postal and telecommunications authority of Kosovo.Post and Telecom of Kosovo was created on December 21, 1965 and has three business units: Post of Kosovo, Telecom of Kosovo, Vala – the Mobile Operator...
(a telecommunications provider in Kosovo).
In the Maldives Cable & Wireless Communications owns a controlling interest in Dhiraagu (Dhivehi Raajjeyge Gulhun Private Limited) the country’s leading provider of mobile, broadband and fixed line telecommunication services. Dhiraagu has also successfully launched mobile broadband services to improve internet connectivity for residents and the many high end tourists who visit the islands.
The Channel Islands and Isle of Man business, which trades as Sure, provides mobile, broadband, fixed line and enterprise services across several islands. In Guernsey the Group has also developed a successful datacentre business which hosts a number of international online gaming clients.
The Monaco & Islands region also includes a number of other smaller business which deliver telecommunications services to remote locations including Ascension Island, St Helena, the Falkland Islands, the Seychelles, Diego Garcia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji.
See also
- All Red LineAll Red LineThe All Red Line was an informal name for the system of electrical telegraphs that linked much of the British Empire.It was inaugurated on 31 October 1902. It had this name because on many political maps, British Empire territory was coloured red ....
- LIME (Cable & Wireless)LIME (Cable & Wireless)LIME, an acronym for 'Landline, Internet, Mobile, Entertainment', is a communications provider owned by the British based Cable & Wireless Communications plc operating in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts...
- CTMCTM-Technology:* Chemistry and Transport Models, software to calculate the fate of air pollutants in the atmosphere* Close to Metal, a low-level programming interface* Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming, a computer programming textbook...
- Sure (Cable & Wireless)
- DhiraaguDhiraaguDhiraagu is the first Maldivian telecommunications company, which was established in 1988. The company remains the nation's largest telecom service provider and No.1 brand. It was the only company licensed to provide internet and GSM services until 2004 and 2005 respectively and continues to be...
- Porthcurno Telegraph MuseumPorthcurno Telegraph MuseumThe Porthcurno Telegraph Museum is a museum located in the small coastal village of Porthcurno Cornwall, UK. Porthcurno was the point at which many submarine telegraph cables—transatlantic and to other locations—came ashore...