Cable & Wireless, the international telecommunications group, today announced that it has secured a three-year managed hosting contract with Hilto...

Cable & Wireless, the international telecommunications group, today announced that it has secured a three-year managed hosting contract with Hilton International, to manage online hotel booking, reservation and e-commerce applications for the 400-strong international hotel chain. As part of its strategy to strengthen its direct relationships with its customers, Hilton International aims to increase its global reach without further reliance on third parties and to grow the percentage of its sales made online to 20% over the next five years.

Cable & Wireless is providing fully managed web-hosting, security and application management that will enable Hilton International to offer easy-to-use local language online services to its customers throughout the world. This is all part of a major global e-commerce initiative by which Hilton International is to develop its web presence as a tool for sales and marketing and as a distribution channel for its business. A key element of Hilton International's e-commerce initiative has been the replacement of disparate regional websites with a single consolidated platform that was designed and implemented by Cable & Wireless and leading web integrator, Sapient. This centralized solution allows Hilton International's customers to interact in real-time with any Hilton hotel in the world.

"Hilton International's major commitment to growing our online services reflects our belief that e-commerce is integral to maintaining our position as a global leader in the future," commented Tim Davis, Senior Vice President, Distribution and E-Commerce, Hilton International. "Our decision to work with Cable & Wireless is based on its ability to offer best-of-breed solutions for hosting, security and application management, all within a single robust service level agreement, which ensures the quality, security, performance and availability of the Hilton International website."

Paresh Modi, managing director, media, entertainment, technology and services, Cable & Wireless UK, said, "Cable & Wireless was able to offer Hilton International real value in terms of our broad expertise and flexible approach - not only to the initial solution design, but also to an ongoing process of improvement. We are delivering an end-to-end solution, whereby our service level agreement guarantees the quality of the application development process, conducted by Sapient, as well as the underpinning infrastructure, provided by Cable & Wireless. The fact that Hilton International has entrusted all these elements to us is testament to our ability to serve our customers as a trusted partner."
The new Hilton International website is hosted at Cable & Wireless' data centers in Swindon and Park Royal, London. Together, they also ensure business continuity and provide an ongoing disaster recovery capability.


About Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless is one of the world's leading international communications companies. It provides voice, data and IP (Internet Protocol) services to business and residential customers, as well as services to other telecoms carriers, mobile operators and providers of content, applications and Internet services.

Cable & Wireless' principal operations are in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, the United States, Japan, the Caribbean, Panama, the Middle East and Macau.

For more information about Cable & Wireless, go to www.cw.com


About Hilton International
Hilton International (HI), an operating division of the UK based Hilton Group plc, owns the rights to the Hilton brand name throughout the world, with the exception of North America. HI operates over 400 hotels, with some 250 branded Hilton, nearly 140 under the mid-market Scandic brand plus 15 luxury Conrad hotels, under a joint venture agreement with Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC). Hilton International Grand Vacations Club (HIGVC) operates 176 time ownership properties in Egypt and Scotland. Hilton International employs over 65,000 staff in over 70 countries.

A global marketing alliance between Hilton International and the North American based Hilton Hotels Corporation, extends the number of hotels operated by both companies worldwide to over 2,400 - over 500 of which are branded Hilton.