The International Digital Communications consortium led by Cable & Wireless Plc and C Itoh & Co, formed to hold the Japanese end of the PPAC-1 fibre optic cable is cheekily bidding for a small shareholding in the rival TPC4 fibre optic cable planned by AT&T Co and the former monopoly Japanese international carrier Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co: no conflict of interest, says Cable & Wireless stoutly – the consortium simply wants access to additional channels in case the sharks start attacking its own cable (no joke – AT&T has had dreadful problems with sharks attacking its fibre cable that links various of the Canary Isles, and has even found sharks’ teeth embedded in it.