Stockholm, March 13 2002

Uppsala local authority has purchased an administrative network from Cable & Wireless and Borderlight

Cable & Wireless and Borderlight recently signed a seven-year contract worth about SEK 105 million for the delivery of a complete administrative network to Uppsala local authority. The network will link all local authority departments in the metropolitan area of Uppsala with administrative authorities, schools, health care services and technical services etc. The contract also covers technical support for adaptation of the authority's local network to the new communication system.

Under the contract Cable & Wireless and Borderlight will build up a new communication infrastructure in the metropolitan area of Uppsala. The function of the administrative network will be to ensure smooth and reliable communications in the area and between the various local government departments. In addition, the infrastructure delivered by Cable & Wireless and Borderlight will promote continued sales of communication services to local business since other market operators will also benefit from the advantages of the infrastructure delivered by Borderlight.

Uppsala's main requirement is an efficient and reliable administrative network that offers high accessibility. In order to obtain a cost-effective infrastructure that meets its specifications the local authority examined the tenders submitted by the suppliers who took part in the contract award procedure with special reference to the following criteria: financial status, technological capacity and technical and commercial aspects.

It is also essential to secure the future of the network and ensure that it can expand as the need arises. The contract is formulated accordingly, running for a number of years and allowing for renegotiations and performance reviews. Cable & Wireless will supply the nodes that make up the network.

The main strengths of the alliance are Cable & Wireless's stability and international profile and Borderlight's integration knowhow and local presence. In choosing Cable & Wireless and Borderlight as its suppliers Uppsala can be sure of having a reliable and stable business partner.

­ The challenge when it comes to building a local government administrative network is the need to ensure a very high level of accessibility, and the infrastructure must be scalable to avoid any risk of the local authority growing out of the systems it has chosen, says Johan Ahlström, Sales Manager of Cable & Wireless Sweden. Another challenge from our point of view was the need for coordination with both Uppsala and Borderlight to ensure that all the components of the solution function together reliably round the clock, and this has worked very well thanks to the high level of competence of all the parties concerned, Johan Ahlström concludes.

­ Cable & Wireless won the contract for Uppsala's communication system because its tender was the one that best met our specifications in terms of economics, functionality and accessibility. We feel that we have found a dependable and competent partner with the capacity to help us expand our administrative network in a big way, and we look forward to future collaboration with confidence, says Stellan Bladh, Chief Computer Officer at Uppsala local authority

Hopefully, this contract will be followed by others. We are negotiating with other local authorities to supply both administrative networks and public local networks as envisaged in IT Infrastructure for Town and Country (SOU 2000:111), an official inquiry on infrastructure commissioned by the Government.

You are welcome to contact any of the following for further information:

Johan Ahlström
Sales Manager
Cable & Wireless
Phone: 08-459 94 00
johan.ahlstrom@cw.com

Sten Oscarsson
President
Borderlight AB
Phone: 0709-174 650
sten.oscarsson@borderlight.net

Stellan Bladh
Chief Computer Officer
Uppsala local authority
Phone: 018-270000
stellan.bladh@sk.uppsala.se

About Cable & Wireless

Cable & Wireless is a major global telecommunications business with revenue of over £8 billion (US$11 billion) in the year to 31 March 2001. It has customers in 70 countries and consists of two core and complementary divisions: Cable & Wireless Regional and Cable & Wireless Global. Cable & Wireless Regional offers a full range of telecommunications services in 27 countries around the world. Cable & Wireless Global's focus for future growth is on IP (internet protocol) and data services and solutions for business customers. It has developed advanced IP networks and value-added services in the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region in support of this strategy. With its financial strength and the capability of its global IP infrastructure, Cable & Wireless holds a unique position in terms of global coverage and services to business customers. Further information about Cable & Wireless is available at www.cw.com.

About Borderlight

Borderlight's mission is to build competition-neutral broadband service infrastructures for new operators, IT enterprises, groups of companies and local authorities in order to improve quality and profitability. Some of the company personnel have more than 18 years' experience of project management and development of IT for various applications. Its strategy is to build all infrastructure to meet customers' specifications in close consultation with the relevant service providers. The company also has a large network of expert contacts and has local support partners all over Sweden. More information about the company is available at www.borderlight.net.

© Borderlight AB 2002-03-14