Cable & Wireless Joins Forces with Reality to Develop Unique One-Stop Shop Service for E-Tailers; hot-orange.com to Trial Innovative Service for Online Retailers.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 3, 2000

Cable & Wireless (NYSE: CWP), the global telecommunications group, and Reality, the logistics, e-commerce and customer management services business of The Great Universal Stores p.l.c. (GUS), today announced a unique alliance to deliver global end-to-end e-commerce services for online retailers.

This new alliance will capitalize on a European market for services to e-tailers estimated to be worth over US$10 billion within five years. (See audio conference details at end of release)

These services include web hosting, web design, e-commerce, business ASP services, customer relationship management and contact management, on-line credit and fraud verification, home delivery and logistics and will free e-tailers to concentrate on growing their business.

The alliance combines Cable & Wireless' strength in carrier-grade web hosting with Reality's expertise in e-business services for e-tailers. The alliance will offer the most extensive collection of consumer marketing services for the e-tailer, with an emphasis on enabling flexible growth and providing added-value.

This service will be extended over time to include wireless access and applies to the purchase and delivery of both tangible products and non-tangibles such as digital content and information services.

The alliance will enable:

-- e-tail customers to focus on expanding their business,

confident that their online infrastructure and fulfilment 

services are fully integrated and scaleable

-- Cable & Wireless to enhance its global web hosting and

e-commerce services with valuable on-line consumer marketing

and credit verification capabilities for Cable & Wireless

customers

-- Reality to extend its global reach to the online retail

community.

Under the terms of the alliance, Cable & Wireless will provide Internet connectivity and web hosting via its single, global Internet protocol (IP) infrastructure, e-commerce services and new online sales channels.

Reality, one of the three key activities of GUS, will provide web design and e-marketing expertise, and through its sister company, Experian, customer management, data mining and credit verification resources. Reality will also provide warehousing, logistics and delivery through its home delivery network, the biggest in the UK, and IP-enabled call centres.

Martin Trees, CEO of Reality, said, "Together with Cable & Wireless, we identified that no-one was offering a complete, high quality, one-stop e-business service to e-tailers."

"We realized we could provide everything a company needed to trade online besides the technical infrastructure to make it happen. The partnership with Cable & Wireless was a natural step in that it bridged the physical and virtual worlds by adding technical depth and infrastructure to our massive breadth of e-commerce and back-end services. This alliance will sweep away the barriers commonly faced by e-tailers, such as fragmented service provision and a lack of consistent, high-quality infrastructure."

The first services will be available in the UK and Europe within the year from Cable & Wireless' hosting center in Swindon, opened in July this year. This service will also act as an enabler for US-based e-tail businesses looking to extend their marketing activities into the UK and Europe.

hot-orange.com, a Netherlands-based e-tailer with pan-European ambitions, will trial the service to accelerate its growth and become a leading player in its chosen markets.

Roel de Hoop, CEO of hot-orange.com said, "I see the partnership between Cable & Wireless and Reality as a unique combination of leading industry expertise. hot-orange.com will be delighted to leverage those competencies as a platform for rapid expansion."

The alliance is part of Cable & Wireless' strategy to support e-tail customers and reflects the company's commitment to delivering innovative Internet protocol (IP) and data services to business customers.

Mike McTighe, chief executive, Global Operations, Cable & Wireless Global, said, "This is the first time any global telecommunications company has partnered with a blue-chip Internet services company to address this exciting new market on a large scale. It enables us to apply a new, more flexible business approach, tailored to the specific needs of the e-tail community, allowing us to grow the Internet together."

"This is another example of how Cable & Wireless is embracing the partnership model where there are obvious benefits of extended market reach and an enhanced ability to serve our customers."

For Reality, this partnership is the first of many dynamic new initiatives planned to drive the company's growth and expansion in new markets.

The alliance's market for services to e-tailers is driven by the rapid growth forecast for the business-to-consumer e-tail market. While forecasts by Forrester Research, Ovum and ABN AMRO vary, there is strong consensus that growth rates will exceed 50% annually over the next five years, with the European business-to-consumer e-tail market expected to reach at least US$100 billion within five years.

About Cable & Wireless

Cable & Wireless is a major global telecommunications business with annual revenue of over (pound)9 billion (US$14 billion) and customers in 70 countries.

Its businesses around the world offer a range of services spanning broadband data, Internet and voice services. Cable & Wireless' priority for expansion is the fast growing market of IP (Internet Protocol) and data services for business customers.

It is making major investments in developing advanced networks and services in the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region to build the world's leading global IP infrastructure. With the capacity of this advanced infrastructure and its presence in key business markets, Cable & Wireless holds a unique position in terms of global coverage and services to business customers.

Cable & Wireless and the Globe Device are registered trademarks of Cable and Wireless plc.

About Reality

Reality, the logistics, e-commerce and customer management services business of GUS, provides integrated `end-to-end' business solutions for organisations selling direct to the public whether conventionally or online. Combining the very best e-commerce technology with an integrated nationwide logistics and support network, Reality delivers leading-edge business solutions that enable customers to extend their access to traditional markets, diversify into new product areas and exploit their e-commerce potential. Reality employs over 20,000 people.

Reality's resources combine world-class customer targeting and data management systems, via sister company, Experian, with its substantial customer service and logistics network, the UK's largest parcel delivery business, to create unrivalled and all-encompassing e-commerce solutions.

For more information, visit www.realitygroup.com.