Cable & Wireless said Monday it will spend US$1 billion to build a fully integrated voice, Internet, and data network across Europe. The five-year plan will provide fiber-optic links to more than 40 major cities in 13 countries, including Vienna, Brussels, Copenhagen, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, and Geneva.

The drive adds to the $5 billion that C&W already plans to invest in the United Kingdom over the next three years as part of a strategy to expand its services. The new 4,500 mile network would hold the equivalent of 5 million telephone calls at once, the company said. It will connect to the company’s existing US backbone, to its network in the United Kingdom, and to Asia.

“By providing significant backbone capability in Europe, we open our doors to a worldwide customer base requiring global end-to-end solutions and services including IP,” Stephen Pettit, C&W executive director of global businesses, said in a statement. This new $1 billion investment will create more than 1,000 new jobs across Europe.

The company’s global move means competition for AT&T and British Telecom, which announced their own $10 billion global network. Earlier this month, AT&T began selling BT’s Concert networking services under the AT&T Concert name. The two companies also plan to deploy an IP network that connects 100 cities around the world. C&W trails British Telecom as the UK’s second-largest telecommunications company.

http://www.cwc.com/