Editing BT Group (section)

==== AT&T ====
As BT owned Concert in 1994, and still wanted access to the North American market, it needed a new partner. An [[AT&T]]/BT option had been mooted in the past, but stopped on regulatory grounds due to their individual virtual monopolies in their home markets. By 1996, this had receded to the point where a deal was possible, and a deal was consummated in 1998.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/27/business/at-t-and-british-telecom-merge-overseas-operations.html|title=AT&T and British Telecom Merge Overseas Operations|date=27 July 1998|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=2 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044826/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/27/business/at-t-and-british-telecom-merge-overseas-operations.html|archive-date=6 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

At its height, the Concert managed network was extensive. Although Concert continued signing customers, its rate of revenue growth slowed, so that in 1999 David Dorman was made CEO with a brief to revive it.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://money.cnn.com/2000/11/28/technology/att/|title=AT&T names president|date=28 November 2000|magazine=Money|access-date=2 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043455/https://money.cnn.com/2000/11/28/technology/att/|archive-date=6 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In late 2000, the BT and AT&T boards fell-out, partly due to each partner's excess debt and the resulting board room clear-outs, partly due to Concert's extensive annual losses. AT&T recognized that Concert was a threat to its ambitions if left intact, and so negotiated a deal where Concert was split in two in 2001: North America and Eastern Asia went to AT&T, the rest of the world and $400M to BT. BT's remaining Concert assets were merged into its BT Ignite, later BT Global Services group.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/may/13/newmedia.business|title=2,000 jobs go as BT's Ignite seeks to stem losses|date=13 May 2002|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=2 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306044151/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/may/13/newmedia.business|archive-date=6 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>