TELecomunicaciones, National Telecommunications Institute) for US$652 million: it is now the largest communications carrier in that country. In 1998, MCI Communications and WorldCom merged to create MCI WorldCom, the company's existing US subsidiary Cable and Wireless USA, Inc. purchased the MCI tier 1 backbone in the U.S.: prior to 1998, Cable & Wireless USA had merely operated a long-distance telephone business and a small internet service. In 1999, Cable & Wireless began building global IP and IP MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) networks with a strategy to sell global IP services to corporations. Cable & Wireless purchased Japanese company IDC (International Digital Communications), naming it Cable & Wireless IDC Inc. During 1999 and 2000, Cable and Wireless purchased 12 ISPs and other companies across mainland Europe (Austria, France, Germany, Nederland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland) and Sweden and Ireland to create, with its UK business, Cable and Wireless Europe. In December 2000, Cable and Wireless purchased Hyperlink-Interactive. 2001 to 2013 In 2001, Cable and Wireless sold its 52.5 percent stake in Cable and Wireless Optus, which was the second-largest telecom company in Australia, to SingTel. The deal was said to be the second largest corporate deal in Australian history. In November 2001, Cable and Wireless acquired the bankrupt co-location provider Exodus Communications for US$800 million, and Exodus' operations were then merged with the previously acquired Digital Island and renamed Cable and Wireless America. In May 2002, Cable and Wireless purchased Guernsey Telecoms from the States of Guernsey. Later in 2002, Cable & Wireless announced its withdrawal from the US corporate market, with operations being sold to Primus Telecom. In March 2004, SAVVIS Communications Corporation purchased Cable and Wireless America for US$155 million via the Chapter 11 creditor protection process, assuming liabilities of around US$12.5 million and assets including the former MCI IP backbone AS3561. Cable & Wireless acquired Energis for £674 million in August 2005, resulting in a reverse takeover in terms of senior management, with John Pluthero appointed from Energis to head the UK business and Francesco Caio departing by April 2006. Cable & Wireless cancelled its American depositary receipts programme in December 2005, voluntarily delisting from the New York Stock Exchange. In February 2007, Cable & Wireless sold the Web Technology Group, which focused on internet systems for the UK government, and in March sold its cabling business Allnet. In October 2008, Cable & Wireless completed the purchase of