Mercury Communications
Telephone system operator, of Brentford
1981 A licence was granted to Cable and Wireless in partnership with Barclays Merchant Bank and BP to establish a second UK telecommunications network, Mercury Communications Ltd, as a rival to British Telecom.
1983 Mercury Communications was the first company which offered an alternative telephone service to British Telecom[1]
1984 Barclays Merchant Bank and BP sold their shares to Cable and Wireless [2]
1984 Commissioned satellite ground station and completed UK fibre-optic cable network.
1988 The Time and Security business was formed from the non-telecommunications businesses of Telephone Rentals Ltd
1989 Gained licence for next generation mobile phones in the UK[3]
1991 Licences were issued to provide mobile services using digital technology operating personal communications networks - these were taken up by Mercury Personal Communications Ltd and Orange.[4]
1993 Blick bought the Time and Security business of Mercury Communications; neither company was involved in manufacturing but bought products from a range of suppliers and configured their own systems[5]
1997 Mercury was merged with three cable operators in the UK (Videotron, Nynex, and Bell Cablemedia) and renamed Cable and Wireless Communications which was then floated on the Stock Exchange[6]