Our changing business

Until 2010 Cable & Wireless plc comprised two standalone business units

Cable & Wireless Communications: A full service telecommunications company operating through four regional operating units – the Caribbean, Panama, Macau and Monaco & Islands.

Cable & Wireless Worldwide: A global provider of critical communications infrastructure, particularly high quality IP-based managed voice, data, applications and IP-based services, to customers globally, with a focus on large corporates, governments, carriers and telecommunications resellers

Cable & Wireless Worldwide separated from Cable & Wireless Communications by way of a demerger on 26 March 2010 and was subsequently purchased by Vodafone Plc.

Our strategy for Cable & Wireless Communications has been to develop a strong regional position in pan-America (Central America and the Caribbean). Pan-America has a series of strong economies and demand for telecoms products – in particular mobile data and broadband. We already have a strong base of existing businesses in the region, extensive cable infrastructure and can develop the economies of scale which are not attainable as a dispersed global provider.

As a result, between 2010-2012 we disposed of a series of assets including our interests in Bermuda, Vanuatu, Fiji and Africa. We also purchased a 51% shareholding in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company, the only full service telecoms operator in The Bahamas.

Most recently we sold the majority of our Monaco & Islands division to Batelco Group. We have also sold a 25% interest in CMC, the company which holds our 55% interest in Monaco Telecom. We have entered into an option to sell the remaining stake in CMC subject to receiving regulatory consents by the end of March 2014.

We have also agreed to sell our shareholding in our Macau business, CTM to Citic Telecom International Holdings Limited and are awaiting regulatory and other approvals.