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]

大東電報(bào)局(Cable & Wireless)(LSE：CW.) 是英國(guó)一間老牌電訊公司，曾擁有香港最大電訊網(wǎng)絡(luò)供應(yīng)商香港電訊。大東電報(bào)局也是澳門電訊股東之一。

英國(guó)大東電報(bào)局（Cable& W ireless Plc）成立于1872年，世界500強(qiáng)企業(yè)之一。它為商業(yè)用戶和個(gè)人消費(fèi)者提供語(yǔ)音、數(shù)據(jù)和IP業(yè)務(wù)，為其他電信運(yùn)營(yíng)商、移動(dòng)通信運(yùn)營(yíng)商以及內(nèi)容、應(yīng)用和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)提供商提供服務(wù)。業(yè)務(wù)遍及80多個(gè)國(guó)家，擁有130多年的電信服務(wù)經(jīng)驗(yàn)，占有世界長(zhǎng)途電話通訊市場(chǎng)1/4的份額。

2002年11月，大東電報(bào)局宣布，公司虧損擴(kuò)大，需裁員3500名，并收縮海外業(yè)務(wù)。

2006年1月31日，大東電報(bào)局宣布執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)Francesco Caio將于3月底離任，并且對(duì)集團(tuán)進(jìn)行大規(guī)模的重組，分為英國(guó)本土和國(guó)際業(yè)務(wù)兩個(gè)部分。2月，又宣稱他們正在尋找機(jī)會(huì)賣掉其在巴林電信持有的20％股權(quán)。3月初再度傳出大東電報(bào)局將出售其海外業(yè)務(wù)和運(yùn)營(yíng)機(jī)構(gòu)，在全球范圍內(nèi)裁員3000人、終止合約客戶達(dá)90%，進(jìn)一步撤出海外的運(yùn)營(yíng)投資。

大東電報(bào)局的常務(wù)董事 John Pluthero 表示，大東電報(bào)局目前約有3萬(wàn)用戶，公司計(jì)劃將用戶群的規(guī)模由目前的3萬(wàn)個(gè)縮減至3000個(gè)大型企業(yè)用戶。

至2005年3月為止的財(cái)政年度，大東電報(bào)局共有51億英鎊的凈虧損。

據(jù)了解，早在1983年，大東電報(bào)局曾與深圳市政府成立國(guó)內(nèi)第一家合資電信運(yùn)營(yíng)企業(yè)——深圳深大電話有限公司，英方持股49%，然而這段姻緣卻在2004年“破裂”。目前除中信大東，大東電報(bào)局在國(guó)內(nèi)還有一家大東電報(bào)局通信技術(shù)服務(wù)（上海）有限責(zé)任公司，這家全資子公司員工數(shù)量10多人。

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.