C&W Offers Fixed-Price Voice

LONDON -- Cable & Wireless today (10 May 2005) announced a new easy to plan, flat-rate voice package for small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Cable & Wireless Straight Talk provides businesses with a single, standard monthly charge for their fixed-line voice services and potential call savings of 25% for an average user.

Cable & Wireless Straight Talk offers a simplified approach to telecom services. Customers can predict and plan their monthly billing through a single, fixed monthly charge per line. The package includes national, international, local and mobile minutes and, where applicable, line rental.

Cable & Wireless Straight Talk is available in three convenient tariffs: Option 1, 2 or 3. Similar to mobile phone tariffs, customers can plan their spending by selecting the option which offers the quota of minutes that meets their anticipated call or application volumes.

Compared with BT's call charges, a typical Cable & Wireless Straight Talk customer can save an average of 25%1 on calls with no hidden costs, no set-up fees and no minimum call charges. In addition, Cable & Wireless will automatically review the package in line with industry pricing every six months to ensure customers receive a highly competitive rate.

Businesses can purchase Cable & Wireless Straight Talk either as an indirect customer (via indirect access, carrier pre-selection or wholesale line rental) or as a customer directly connected to the network.

For organisations indirectly connected to the Cable & Wireless network via wholesale line rental, the cost of line rental is included within the single monthly bill and provided at a competitive rate. Companies directly connected to the Cable & Wireless network also benefit from free, unlimited 'on-net' calls to other directly connected sites.

Where multiple Cable & Wireless Straight Talk packages are purchased across an organisation, possibly involving a mix of tariffs, Cable & Wireless combines the total call quota and spreads the allocation across the entire company. This process helps smooth the peaks and troughs in call usage among the individual sites to provide greater economies for the business overall.

Cable & Wireless Straight Talk also incorporates a range of added value services to help businesses manage their telecoms service more efficiently. These include two web-based resource tools, Cable & Wireless Call Management Network and the industry leading Cable & Wireless Call Guard, which analyse call costs, monitor usage and alerts customers to any instances of unauthorised usage.

Sandra O'Boyle, senior analyst, Current Analysis said: "Business customers are looking for transparent pricing and value for money from voice providers. The range of Cable & Wireless Straight Talk packages offer the predictability of flat-rate minutes for local, national, international and mobile calls and flexible contracts without the usual lock-in terms."

Cable & Wireless plc