A giant 20-year-old Cable and Wireless satellite dish has been taken out of service but the company has no plans to dismantle it.

Charmaine Burgess, vice president of corporate communications and market strategy at Cable and Wireless said the landmark dish still works but has become obsolete.

?The dish is currently in the safe, least wind resistant, stow position,? Ms Burgess said. ?The satellite dish is not used for transmission purposes when in the stow position.?

With improvements in fibre-optic technology, the dish is no longer needed, she said.

?International circuits are suitably diversified at the moment with our Cable and Wireless fibre-optic systems,? she said.

However, other companies have approached Cable and Wireless to try and use it.

?Alternate satellite transmission options are under active consideration with parties who have expressed interest in its use,? Ms Burgess said. ?There has been no decision to dismantle or remove the landmark dish at this time.?

Neighbours said the dish had not moved for weeks ? and had suspected that it became stuck in its current sky-gazing position after Tropical Storm Harvey.

?It was not moved for the tropical storm,? Ms Burgess said. ?The dish can operate safely in service to winds of about 100 knots.?

She noted the large dish is extremely stable.

?The largest Cable and Wireless satellite dish has been in place for over 20 years and has withstood every hurricane to visit Bermuda since then without incident,? she said. ?Satellite dishes are designed to withstand high winds particularly when they are in their stow position.

?In fact, we currently have 12 satellite dishes at our Devonshire Teleport site, three of which are in the stow position.?

Ms Burgess added that all of the company?s satellite dishes are ?routinely maintained in order to minimise the chance of them becoming a liability to Cable and Wireless or its neighbours?.