Monday, May 1st, 2000

Cable &Wireless reduces internet prices

CABLE & WIRELESS REDUCES INTERNET PRICES In their continuing effort to reduce the cost of Internet access for the people of the Cayman Islands, Cable & Wireless today announced new Internet prices effective June 1st 2000.

The company will reduce the cost of Internet Access by doubling the amount of hours offered on each Dial-up plan for the same price. Customers will be able to choose the plan that most benefits them depending on their usage.

The new packages will give current customers significant saving of up to 51%. For example a customer on the new Net Master plan who is online for 11-20 hours will save an average of 31%.

One of the highlights of the new plans is the introduction of the Net Pro plan for high usage customers, which offers 50 hours for $50 a month. This represents 100% savings over the current Net Master plan.

Explaining the Company's reason for the reduction, Cable & Wireless' General Manager Tim Adam stated. "Cable & Wireless wants to open up the potential of the Internet to as many people as possible by introducing a new range of simple and low-cost packages. We know our customers want lower priced Internet and we are confident they will be pleased with the value of these new packages."

The new plans include the Net Starter, which is 10 hours for $17 per month; Net Surfer with 20 hours for $27; Net Master with 30 hours for $36 and the new Net Pro plan. (Please see table attached for package prices and savings.)

This decrease follows closely behind the announcement of the removal of the volume based billing for dial-up customers, which took place in April.

In February the company also reduced the cost of dedicated Internet access by up to 78%. Dedicated access is a high speed connection to the Internet which allows businesses to host their own web sites or transfer large amounts of information to their employees or customers.

"In addition to these pricing reductions, we are also committed to providing excellent service," Mr. Adam said. "We anticipate the new Maya 1 international fibre optic cable system will be ready for service in June, which means that we will have access to more bandwidth to maintain excellent service quality as our customers' Internet usage grows. By transferring the majority of our international Internet traffic from satellite to the new fibre optic cable, our customers will experience even faster downloads of images, files and other information.

Mr. Adam continued: "With new pricing structures and increased technological growth, we intend to markedly increase access to the Internet in the Cayman Islands and to underscore the importance of this technology to our shared future."

ISDN, is the next Internet service the company is looking to reduce the cost of, "ISDN is a service ideal for the Cayman Islands. It is a high-speed dialup service which will allow our customers to down load large amounts of information more easily. ISDN is an ideal solution for the Small Office/Home Office and Cable & Wireless is totally committed to ensuring that our customers are able to take advantage of this service," Tim concluded.

Customers can visit Cable & Wireless' web site at www.candw.ky to get more information about the new Internet price packages.

With customers in 70 countries, Cable & Wireless is a major global telecommunications business with over 50,000 employees worldwide. Its international operations offer a range of services spanning broadband data and Internet access, fixed and mobile voice, as well as interactive entertainment and information. Cable & Wireless' priority for expansion is the fast growing market for 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 to business customers.

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