Cable & Wireless announced a major restructuring under which it will withdraw from the U.S. market. Earlier in the year, Cable & Wireless had been optimistic that it could continue to build its business serving multinational enterprises and other carriers in the U.S. However, Cable & Wireless has now concluded that there is not a long-term viable business model, as its U.S. operations continue to consume cash and have had limited interaction with the rest of the Cable & Wireless group. Various options are being considered to withdraw from the market. Cable & Wireless now plans to focus its attention on the UK, where its market share is second only to BT. The larger strategy is to create a group of profitable national telecom companies with strong positions in their primary markets. The restructuring will result in 1,500 layoffs in the coming 18 months.
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- In April 2003, Cable & Wireless appointed Francesco Caio as its new CEO, replacing Graham Wallace. Caio formerly served as CEO and founder of Netscalibur and previously CEO of Omnitel and Merloni. Cable & Wireless also named Kevin Loosemore to serve in the newly created position of COO. Loosemore previously was Regional President for EMEA of Motorola and formerly CEO of IBM UK.
In January 2003, Cable & Wireless appointed Richard Lapthorne as its non-executive Chairman, to replace the retiring Sir Ralph Robins. At the time, Lapthorne also served as Chairman of Amersham plc, Morse PLC, Avecia plc, Tunstall Holdings Ltd and TI Automotive.
In November 2002, Cable & Wireless first announced plans to withdraw from domestic business markets in the US and in Continental Europe — except for multinational Enterprise and Service Provider customers.
In July 2002, Cable & Wireless upgraded the US portion of its global IP network to OC-192 running MPLS from coast-to-coast. Cable & Wireless activated OC-192 in Q4 connecting Washington, DC and New York with London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. The company then added Anaheim, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Santa Clara. Cable & Wireless said its upgraded network enables it to deliver OC-48/STM-16 IP access services to carriers, content providers, ISPs and large enterprises.
In November 2001, Cable and Wireless agreed to acquire Exodus for US$850 million. Exodus was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings at the time. Previously, Cable & Wireless had acquired Digital Island and its content delivery network for approximately US$340 million.
Cable & Wireless’ other acquisitions included MCI’s Internet backbone.
