Cable & Wireless Announces Worldwide Web Hosting Network
VIENNA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 3, 1999--Cable & Wireless (NYSE: CWP - news), the global telecommunications group, today announced that it has opened the first of at least twenty next generation data and Web hosting centers worldwide.
The next six will be opened within a year, with others to be added over the following two years. All the centers will be on Cable & Wireless' global IP (Internet protocol) network and will further strengthen Cable & Wireless' position as a leading Web hosting company.
The first of the new centers, opened today in Reston, Virginia, USA, consists of 33,000 square feet of raised floor space, providing rack space for 5000 servers and providing the highest levels of security, monitoring and backup for customers. The Reston center replaces the hosting facility acquired by Cable & Wireless in 1998 and builds on the expertise developed there.
The Reston center has a bandwidth capacity of 9.6G/bps (OC192), and is capable of receiving 700 million web visits per day. Security systems include 24 hour-a-day video recording and on-site security personnel. Backup power sources are provided by uninterrupted dual battery and generator backup systems with a three-day fuel supply available on-site.
The next six web-hosting centers will be located in Santa Clara (California), London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo and Sydney. These will add to the Cable & Wireless' existing facilities around the world, which currently include Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and the UK.
Once all of the new centers are complete, they will give Cable & Wireless' customers access to the most advanced Web hosting services, to support their e-commerce expansion.
They will provide one million square feet (approximately 93,000 square meters) of Web hosting space, enabling Cable & Wireless to continue to grow the value of traffic carried over its high capacity, advanced global IP network, as well as its capability to deliver high value applications to its customers.
''This is a key step in the delivery of Cable & Wireless' data and IP strategy,'' said Graham Wallace, Group Chief Executive, Cable and Wireless plc. ''As companies around the world do more and more of their business over the Internet, they need our resources and expertise globally to support their e-commerce activities.
''With these worldwide Web hosting centers linked to our global IP network, Cable & Wireless will be able to provide customers with faster and better websites, more advanced e-commerce, applications and guaranteed performance levels.''
The global Web hosting market is predicted to grow from a current figure of US $3 billion to US$23 billion by 2002.(a) Demand for services varies from the simplest hosting service, providing email and basic websites, to highly customized, managed application development and integration.
Already a leading Web hosting company, Cable & Wireless hosts many of the world's most widely recognized Web properties - sites that receive from 3 million to 20 million page views per day. Currently, Cable & Wireless supports three of the top five news and information websites; three of the top five marketing and corporate websites; and two of the top five shopping websites.(b)
About Cable & Wireless
With customers in 70 countries, Cable & Wireless is a major global telecommunications business with revenue of around $13 billion in the year ended March 1999 and over 50,000 employees. Its businesses around the world offer a range of services spanning broadband data and Internet services, fixed and mobile voice, as well as interactive entertainment and information.
Cable & Wireless' priority for expansion is the fast-growing market of data and IP (Internet protocol) services for business customers.
Since November 1998, it has announced major investments in advanced networks in the US and Europe, the restructuring of Cable & Wireless Communications in the UK and has acquired full control of Cable & Wireless IDC in Japan to support this strategy. Cable & Wireless now holds a unique position in terms of global coverage and services to business customers.
•(a) source: Forrester Research, Internet Services Hypergrowth, Feb. 1999•(b) source: Data Communications Magazine, June 1999
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Contact:
Cable & Wireless
Chad Couser, 703/760-3845
chad.couser@cwusa.com
or
Nikki Laughlin, 703/760-1574
nikki.laughlin@cwusa.com
or
Brodeur Porter Novelli
Stephanie Greer, 202/973-3622
sgreer@brodeur.com |
