BT to completely write-off Concert?

BT may write off the entire Concert joint venture with AT&T, at a cost of £1.2 billion, according to the Mail on Sunday.

BT has called the article "pure speculation" but did admit that a complete write-off was one of the options being investigated by new chairman Sir Christopher Bland. Having removed a large chunk of BT's debt, Concert is known to be the chairman's main priority.

Previously, all talk of Concert revolved around how the company would be split between the two giant telcos but with it haemorrhaging £3.5 million a day, Bland's patience is running short and he may simply walk away from the whole deal and throw a massive one-off write-off cost in the next quarterly results.

We wouldn't put it past him. Bland has completely turned BT's debt situation around in four months. He has sold stakes and floated off parts that had been dithered about for years under the previous management. The longer the break-up of Concert goes on, the more a complete write-off makes sense.

Yes, it would lose £1.2 billion, but Bland sees his job as getting BT back on its feet as fast as possible before other companies make the most out its incapacity. If he stays with the break-up process, BT will benefit from returned assets but in the meantime it will continue to lose money and act as a drag on the rest of the company.

Once these assets have been pulled into BT's other business - most of it into BT Ignite - the real value of Concert may become negligible. Is it better now just to put it down to experience and get on with redeveloping BT? - that is what Bland has to decide. And with other companies starting to bid for chunks of the monster telco, his attentions are needed elsewhere.

It's a tough decision. We look forward to seeing what Bland decides. If he does go with a write-off, it'll be within weeks rather than months. ®

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