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英国大东电报局（Cable & Wireless Plc）

英国大东电报局网站网址：http://www.cw.com/

　　Cable & Wireless (LSE：CW.) is a British telecommunications company. 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 television to its customers, but it sold its cable assets to NTL in 2000. It remains a significant player in the UK telecoms market and in certain overseas markets, especially in the former British colonies of the Caribbean, where it was formerly the monopoly incumbent. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It is also the main supplier of communication in the British South Atlantic, including Saint Helena and the Falkland Islands. [1]

　　大东电报局(Cable & Wireless)(LSE：CW.) 是英国一间老牌电讯公司，曾拥有香港最大电讯网络供应商香港电讯。大东电报局也是澳门电讯股东之一。

　　英国大东电报局（Cable& W ireless Plc）成立于1872年，世界500强企业之一。它为商业用户和个人消费者提供语音、数据和IP业务，为其他电信运营商、移动通信运营商以及内容、应用和互联网服务提供商提供服务。业务遍及80多个国家，拥有130多年的电信服务经验，占有世界长途电话通讯市场1/4的份额。

　　2002年11月，大东电报局宣布，公司亏损扩大，需裁员3500名，并收缩海外业务。

　　2006年1月31日，大东电报局宣布执行长Francesco Caio将于3月底离任，并且对集团进行大规模的重组，分为英国本土和国际业务两个部分。2月，又宣称他们正在寻找机会卖掉其在巴林电信持有的20％股权。3月初再度传出大东电报局将出售其海外业务和运营机构，在全球范围内裁员3000人、终止合约客户达90%，进一步撤出海外的运营投资。

　　大东电报局的常务董事 John Pluthero 表示，大东电报局目前约有3万用户，公司计划将用户群的规模由目前的3万个缩减至3000个大型企业用户。

　　至2005年3月为止的财政年度，大东电报局共有51亿英镑的净亏损。

　　据了解，早在1983年，大东电报局曾与深圳市政府成立国内第一家合资电信运营企业——深圳深大电话有限公司，英方持股49%，然而这段姻缘却在2004年“破裂”。目前除中信大东，大东电报局在国内还有一家大东电报局通信技术服务（上海）有限责任公司，这家全资子公司员工数量10多人。

年份　事件

1873　澳大利亚东方支线及中国电报公司(大东电报局前身)于伦敦成立

1882　澳大利亚东方支线及中国电报公司，与马可尼属下无线电报公司合并为大东电报局

1918　第一次世界大战结束，大英帝国领土占地球四分之一面积，大东电报成为帝国通讯中枢

1939　第二次世界大战爆发，大东肩负战场通讯及破坏敌国通讯之责任

1947　英联邦成立通讯委员会后，将大东收归国有

1979　信奉自由市场的保守党新政府上台，两年后将大东私有化

1982　大东成立水星通讯(Mercury Communications)，在英国本土经营电讯服务

1990　全球业务扩展，职员总数达37681人

1999　业务重心由电讯转向企业IP及数据服务，但遇上科网和电讯热潮退却，招致重大亏损，财政状况恶化

2002　债券被降为垃圾级，剔出富时100指数

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, Gibraltar and Malta Cable Company and the British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company, which connected the Ango-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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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, and changed to Cable and Wireless Limited in 1934.^[4]

Following the Labour Party (UK)'s victory in the 1945 general elections, the government announced its intention to nationalise Cable and Wireless, which was carried out in 1947.^[4] 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 (UK) government led by Margaret Thatcher began privatising the nationalised industries, and the history as a private company made Cable and Wireless an early candidate. Privatisation was announced in 1980, with Cable and Wireless privatised in November 1981.^[5] 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.^[6]

In 1986, the U.S. 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 it's 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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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 Internet backbone in the U.S.: prior to 1998 Cable & Wireless USA had merely operated a long distance telephone business and a small internet service.^[9]

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.^[10]

In December 2000, Cable and Wireless purchased Hyperlink-Interactive.^[11]

In November 2001 Cable and Wireless USA purchased bankrupt Colocation centre provider Exodus Communications for $800 million dollars, the operations were merged with the previously acquired Digital Island and renamed Cable and Wireless America.^[12]

In May 2002 Cable and Wireless purchased Guernsey Telecoms from the States of Guernsey^[13] and in November 2002 Cable and Wireless announced their withdrawal from the U.S. corporate market. US telephone operations were sold to Primus Telecom.^[14]

In March 2004 SAVVIS Communications Corporation purchased Cable and Wireless America for $155 million US Dollars via the Chapter 11 creditor protection process, and assumed liabilities of about $12.5 million US Dollars and assets including the former MCI IP backbone AS3561.^[15]

In August 2005 Cable & Wireless bought Energis for ￡674m as a reverse takeover in terms of management: John Pluthero was appointed from Energis to head the UK business with Francesco Ciao departing by April 2006.^[16]

In December 2005 Cable & Wireless cancelled its American Depositary Receipts programme, voluntarily delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.^[17]

In February 2007 Cable & Wireless sold its web arm which focussed on systems for the UK government, the Web Technology Group^[18], and later in March sold its cabling business Allnet.^[19]

In October 2008 Cable & Wireless completed the purchase of Thus plc which is now known as "Thus, a Cable&Wireless business".^[20]

Cable & Wireless remains the 3rd biggest supplier of IP services to FTSE350 customers behind BT plc and MCI/Verizon. 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 (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 Local loop unbundling 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.

Historically, Cable and Wireless has had a strong market presence in many current and former British colonies where it provided local telephone service. It was awarded the 1996 Worldaware Business Award^[21] for its long term commitment to developing Cable links in the Pacific region (especially Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and the Solomon Islands). The company had a virtual monopoly amongst the colonies in the Caribbean region. In recent years, their market share has somewhat diminished with the dismantling of their regional monopoly and the introduction of more competition in the Caribbean, particularly from Irish-owned cellular multi-national, Digicel. The company was also the main fixed line operator in Hong Kong until the sale of Hong Kong Telecom to PCCW.

The company remains the main fixed-line provider in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Panama, Macau, Maldives, Monaco, Seychelles, the Falkland Islands, St. Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla and Guernsey (where it operates under its own brand name LIME, while in Bermuda it provides international communications only; local services are provided by the Bermuda Telephone Company.

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 Pacific Century Cyberworks in 2000.