ICO-Teledesic Global Names Former Senior Cable & Wireless Executive As CEO

ICO-Teledesic Global Limited, a new holding company that controls the satellite assets of telecommunications pioneer Craig McCaw, today announced that telecommunications veteran Greg Clarke has joined the company as chief executive officer.

Clarke, 42, is the former chief executive officer of Cable & Wireless Communications plc (CWC), which prior to a recent restructuring was the United Kingdom's largest cable television company and Britain's second largest telephone company.

Clarke played a critical role in establishing CWC following the merger of Mercury Communications with three cable companies in 1997. Under his leadership, CWC launched the world's first cable modem-based broadband interactive digital television service.

Clarke also committed CWC to being one of the first national telephone operators in the world to upgrade its entire core network to IP (Internet Protocol) technology. He also established one of the largest full-service Web-hosting facilities in Europe. When sold in May, CWC had more than tripled shareholder value during the company's three years of operation.

"Greg Clarke embodies everything we want in the leader of ICO-Teledesic Global," said McCaw, chairman of ICO-Teledesic Global. "He has extensive international telecommunications expertise in the data, broadband and wireless markets that ICO-Teledesic Global plans to serve. He has a proven track record in product development and sales and marketing. He's a smart, capable, dynamic and popular leader."

Clarke will lead the New ICO and Teledesic teams and have overall management responsibility for the development of the companies' advanced wireless services. He will also work closely with ICO-Teledesic Global's international partners, which include some of the most prominent telecommunications providers in the world.

"I look forward to working with Craig McCaw and the ICO-Teledesic Global team to build a powerful range of global wireless voice and data services," Clarke said. "This is a tremendous opportunity to build value for our shareholders and future customers."

Clarke's appointment comes on the heels of an announcement July 11 that ICO-Teledesic Global had secured investment agreements totaling more than $1 billion (£670 million) from a number of top international investors. Investors include Eagle River Investments LLC, McCaw's private investment company; a fund managed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc., a leading private equity investor; and Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation.

George Tamke, an operating partner from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice who serves on the ICO-Teledesic Global board, said, "We are pleased to have identified an executive with the stature and international telecommunications experience to execute a complex global business strategy. We look forward to working with Greg and the rest of the leadership team to implement this plan and successfully grow this business."

Prior to serving as CEO of Cable & Wireless Communications, Clarke was the company's chief operating officer from May 1997 to January 1999. Previously, he was the managing director of mobile communications for Cable and Wireless.

Before joining Cable and Wireless, Clarke was vice president of cellular at Nortel Matra Communications France. He also held numerous management positions at Dowty-Case Communications and Plessey Group plc.

Clarke holds a master's in business administration from City University in London as well as a bachelor's degree in business from Wolverhampton Polytechnic.

Background ICO-Teledesic Global

ICO-Teledesic Global will be a global provider of wireless Internet-in-the-Sky(R) satellite communications services, including Internet Protocol-based mobile and fixed broadband services. Building on its core capabilities of high-quality, mobile voice services, New ICO will also offer the satellite equivalent of third-generation (3G) wireless services, including wireless Internet and other packet-data services. New ICO will begin offering its services worldwide in 2003. Teledesic will deliver affordable broadband data and value-added services over a global network optimized for the Internet Protocol. Its target service date is late 2004.

ICO-Teledesic Global has proposed mergers of New ICO and Teledesic with ICO-Teledesic Global. The merger of New ICO into ICO-Teledesic Global is subject to approval by the New ICO board and shareholders as well as regulatory authorities. Teledesic's board of directors has already approved the merger of Bellevue, Washington-based Teledesic into ICO-Teledesic Global. This merger also remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

About New ICO

New ICO, a private company, acquired the assets of ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited, which was established in January 1995 to provide global mobile personal communications services by satellite. The business was renamed New ICO following the successful $1.2 billion (£804 million) McCaw-led financial restructuring of New ICO, which was completed in May 2000. New ICO (pronounced "EYE-co") is based in London with offices in Washington, D.C.; Miami; Singapore; Beijing, China; Mumbai, India; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Moscow, Russia; Istanbul, Turkey; and Pretoria, South Africa.