Cable & Wireless America Announces New and Expanded Customer Agreements

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, [phone], or





Web site:  http://www.cwusa.com/ 

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