The London, UK-based company wants to capitalize on its ownership of the country’s second largest network to become a major broadband player and to take advantage of what it sees as the growing shift to fixed-rate connections offering unlimited local voice and data services.
It is building on its 18.6m pound ($34.1m) June purchase of Bulldog Communication Ltd, a start-up that offers DSL broadband connections and has its own equipment installed at 38 BT exchanges.
C&W wants to increase to 400 exchanges in areas of the highest populations by the second half of 2005. With a 4Mbps service, C&W is aiming at the higher end of the residential and commercial markets.
In common with BT, C&W is now concentrating on its home market after a policy of expensive and over-ambitious acquisitions overseas left it nursing huge losses.
