Final curtain falls on Concert

BT and US counterpart AT&T have wound up Concert, their disastrous international telecoms joint venture, three months ahead of schedule. The small success will do little to reduce the £1.2bn BT lost on the operation. The divorce cost 2,300 of Concert's 6,300 employees their jobs, with 900 of those cuts falling in the UK.

Concert was set up in 1999 to provide telecoms services to multinational companies. It included BT and AT&T's international networks and products for business customers. But it suffered from tougher-than-expected competition and conflicts between the partners. At one stage, it was losing £20m a week. The duo have taken back all they contributed and have agreed to look after each other's customers in areas where only one is represented.

Separately, BT's internet business, Openworld, has complained to the Government that rival AOL enjoys an unfair tax advantage worth £4.50 a month for every customer. The Treasury said the rules are set to change shortly.

BT shares fell 7p to 273p.