New Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) boss Phil Bentley claimed he was making good use of his previous experience as head of British Gas as he laid out plans for a major overhaul of the telecoms firm, warning it has been “uncompetitive” and “below its full potential”.
Bentley insisted that he wasn’t criticising the way CWC was previously run, but said the sale of more than £1 billion of non-core assets, including in Monaco and Macau, during the past year meant the group “can now really focus” on its Caribbean heartland.
He maintained that CWC has an advantage over rivals as it is already a player in both mobile and fixed-line telecoms — it owns undersea cables from the Caribbean to Miami — and is expanding in TV in search of growth.
Bentley said CWC is often the biggest employer on the islands on which it operates.
“It’s a bit like the oil and gas industry — you’ve got customers, you’ve got government and regulators,” he said. “You can’t imagine living your life without connectivity — just like you can’t imagine life without energy.”
CWC has used its assets sales to slash its historic debt, giving Bentley “headroom” to invest in super-fast 4G and keep paying a dividend, despite an annual pre-tax loss of $70 million (£41.5 million). Revenues fell 1% to $1.87 billion.
