COLT Telecom Group
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COLT Telecom Group SA (originally City Of London Telecommunications) is a telecommunications company, financially headquartered in Luxembourg, but started in and with its main centre of operations based in the United Kingdom, and additional operations in thirteen countries in Europe. COLT is focused on providing telecommunications services to business clients and operates in major cities only. The group is quoted on the London Stock Exchange as part of the FTSE 250 Index.
[edit] History
COLT was founded in 1992 by Jim Hynes with funds provided by Fidelity Investments. The company began to construct a telecoms network in London. In 1993 it was awarded a licence to compete with British Telecom and Cable and Wireless in voice and data transmission. The group later expanded into Europe, building networks in major European cities over the next 10 years.
During the "Dot-com" boom in the late 1990s, the value of COLT's stock increased rapidly, and it was in the FTSE 100 Index of the top 100 firms in the UK. During the downturn in 2000, COLT's share price fell dramatically to a low-point that was less than 1/100 of its heady peak.
