Good news for Ciena. One of its big customers is planning a huge build-out:
Cable and Wireless to Build New Network
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
LONDON -- Cable and Wireless P.L.C. said Monday that it would spend $1 billion over
five years to build a high-speed European telecommunications network.
The company, whose European sales are about £100 million ($167 million) a year, hopes the
expansion will help it double that revenue every year for the next five years as it benefits from a
market that the company estimates is worth $170 billion.
Cable and Wireless is going alone in Europe, the world's No. 2
telecommunications market after the United States, after dropping
Telecom Italia S.p.A. because of management turmoil at Italy's largest
phone company. Plans for a European network follow the company's
purchase this summer of the MCI Communications Corporation's
Internet business.
The expansion plan, which comes on top of a $5 billion investment in Britain in the next three
years, includes leasing high-speed lines for 10 years from Hermes Europe Railtel B.V. for an
undisclosed amount and paying more than $100 million to Global Crossing Ltd. for fiber optic
cables connecting 18 European cities.
The company's plan, which it said would create more than 1,000 jobs in Europe, differs from
those of competitors like Colt Telecom Group P.L.C. and MCI Worldcom Inc., which began
their efforts to win business customers by building local high-speed networks in major cities and
then adding long-distance links.
Instead, Cable and Wireless plans a long-distance "supernetwork" among more than 40 major
European cities in 13 countries. |
