Cable & Wireless America Announces New and Expanded Customer Agreements Demonstrates Continued Demand for Hosting and IP Services RESTON, Va., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cable & Wireless America (CWA) today said it continues to see strong demand for its industry-leading hosting and IP services, logging more than 800 new and expanded customer service orders in the third quarter of this calendar year. On December 8 CWA announced that it signed an agreement with an affiliate of Gores Technology Group, LLC to purchase substantially all of the assets of CWA's US businesses. At the same time, CWA filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions to facilitate the sale. "Our customers and prospects are both loyal and savvy," said Clint Heiden, executive vice president of sales for CWA. "The steady stream of new service orders during times of uncertainty and change is a testament to the strength of our products and technology. It also says a lot about customer confidence in our ability to execute a successful sale that is in their best interest." Cable & Wireless America delivers solutions that support the online operations and mission-critical business applications of leading finance, retail and technology companies, including 40 percent of Fortune 100 enterprises. Heiden said new service orders from approximately 450 companies are expected to generate more than $30 million in new revenue over the term of the relevant contracts, which vary in length from one to three years. Among the companies that have new or expanded agreements with CWA are American Greetings, Covisint, Kelley Blue Book, Merrill Lynch, MetLife and Priceline.com. "Cable & Wireless America has been our selected hosting company for the past several years," said Steve Sheinheit, senior vice president and chief technology officer for MetLife. "Throughout its restructuring, Cable & Wireless America has continued to deliver the high quality of service we have come to rely on over the course of our relationship. We expect Cable & Wireless America to continue as a preferred provider of facilities, bandwidth, and managed services for MetLife." John Parady, chief technology officer of Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, Calif., said, "We have been a long-term customer of Cable & Wireless America, going back several years when we selected them as the hosting provider for the Kbb.com website. We have continued with Cable & Wireless America as a result of their aggressive approach to servicing our needs and expanded the range of services they provide to our business. Throughout their restructuring process we have had a very positive experience with Cable & Wireless America and expect them to continue as a preferred provider for Kelley Blue Book." Heiden said Cable & Wireless America continues to work toward its business goals and remains ahead of target on data center consolidation, customer churn reduction, and other cost reductions that have helped reduce operating losses by 100 million pounds Sterling and free cash outflow by 156 million pounds in the first half of the financial year compared to the second half of 2002/3 (as announced on November 12, 2003 in the interim results of Cable and Wireless plc). Prior to the agreement with Gores and the Chapter 11 filing, the ongoing commercial dealings between Cable & Wireless America and Cable and Wireless plc had been formalized in a separation agreement, ensuring both companies can maintain continuity of international services to their respective customers. About Cable & Wireless America Cable & Wireless America is one of the leading providers of complex hosting and IP solutions for global enterprises. The company's portfolio of services includes a wide range of flexible and secure IP connectivity and networking solutions along with complete and secure infrastructure to support complex web hosting. Cable & Wireless America comprises Cable & Wireless USA Inc. and Cable & Wireless Internet Services, Inc.. For more information about Cable & Wireless America, go to http://www.cwusa.com/. DATASOURCE: Cable & Wireless America CONTACT: Laurie Probst of Cable & Wireless, +1-408-346-2339, or Web site: http://www.cwusa.com/

Copyright