David Waterhouse has been managing director of London-based Cable & Wireless C.I.S. since 1998. That job has put him at the helm of the company's branch office, as well as Cable & Wireless C.I.S. Svyaz, a local subsidiary.

Waterhouse has worked in Russia since 1996. Previously, he was managing director of Telestra SATEL in Kazakstan after almost 10 years in Sydney, Australia, as manager for offshore projects.

The Russia Journal: Cable & Wireless has been in Russia since 1982. Could you tell us about the company's history in Russia?

David Waterhouse: Originally, we came to Russia in 1890 as a different company. We were involved in an early cable program.

We reestablished our presence here in the early 1980s initially as a representative office working with Russian ministries. In the early 1990s, we established a number of joint ventures here. In 1998, we consolidated these joint ventures and sold everything except for the Sakhalin and Nakhodka businesses to Metromedia. At about the same time, we formed Cable & Wireless Svyaz and applied for a number of licenses. Last year, we received our licenses, completed engineering works and started providing services. In August this year, we opened our Web hosting data center in Moscow.

RJ: What's Cable & Wireless' current position in the Russian market?

DW: We're a carrier's carrier. So, we're doing a lot of work supporting voice and data Internet services for other telecom operators. We also service multinational corporations, and we also support Internet service providers.

RJ: Who are your company's main competitors here in Russia?

DW: In telecoms, often your competitor is also your customer. On the one hand, there is British Telecom, but also the companies, like Global One or Golden Telecom [that have a local presence]. On the other hand, those carriers will also be our customers sometimes, and we will be their customers.

RJ: What are Cable & Wireless' plans for the future in this market?

DW: We believe that the future of telecoms is heading toward the Internet. So, the Internet is a very big part of our future strategy. We're already providing backbone Internet services to the carriers here. We're also looking at Web hosting services, providing high-speed reliable access on the Internet side. Our big strategy is to realize the Internet's full potential in this market.

RJ: Tell us more about the Web hosting center that Cable & Wireless opened in Moscow this August.

DW: The idea of the Web hosting business is about providing highly secure and reliable Web services to corporate customers. Customers' requirements for the Internet are becoming more and more complex. They're becoming harder and harder to do in-house, and therefore companies would like to outsource that. Web hosting is viewed as an inherent part of telecom needs. Most offices now are using e-mail in some form or other. And the use of Web hosting is the next step along.

RJ: Who are your main customers in Russia? Is Cable & Wireless mostly focusing on foreign customers?

DW: Our customer base here has several separate segments. One is the telecom carriers here and Internet service providers. All of these are Russian. We also have a number of multinational corporations to which we provide services as well. There is a growing number of Russian multinational companies. Our strength is in providing international services, so we're not in the business of providing Russian domestic services.

RJ: What do you think are the main features of the Russian telecom market? What marks it out?

DW: In the early days, Russia certainly played a leading role in Internet growth. It had a very flexible and friendly Internet environment. Russia's a little bit different now. As any country in Europe, it is developing its Internet-specific regulations. There were concerns about the requirement to classify Web hosting as a media application.

We operate Web hosting in many countries around the world, and we would like to work with the regulators in terms of setting up something that, on the one hand, provides adequate consumer protection and safeguards, and on the other hand, is still easy to use and generates value for the country and the economy.