T'aint nought to do with network or customers
C&W have enough high profile customers. They also already have what they call a next gen network (= new bunch of new routers). They don't need more national capacity (although they desperately need some in Europe where their wafer thin network is creaking). They don't need greater scale to take on BT. No, I reckon what they need is the smoke and mirrors which is afforded by a merger to disguise the fact that this is the first year since the Energis acquisition that there is no more provision left in the pot to prop up the year-on-year performance comparison. Having won very little new business over the last year (excluding 'winning' business they already had with Tesco & Aviva etc!), and having a dire reputation for customer service, I reckon the dismal performance will be exposed at the end of this year if they don't do something like this. And it will be attributed to a one-off hit which is the premium they would pay for Thus. And yes, C&W are a high-end business customer only organisation, so consumers and business spenders of less than 10 grand a month can expect to be spun off within weeks of a takeover ......
Biting the hand that feeds IT
