communications market which is now worth more than some $100 billion.

The company says it will provide communications services of an unprecedented scale, scope and quality with the industry's broadest portfolio of voice, data and Internet services.

It has a direct sales force serving about 270 multinational customers and through its network of global distributors, it also serves an additional 29,000 customers worldwide. The company's frame relay network reaches every major city in the US and UK and extends to another 170 cities in 47 countries.

Its global public network reaches 237 countries -- more than any other network. In addition to using AT&T and BT's extensive networks in the US and UK, Concert has also built a new high-speed Internet Protocol network that spans 21 cities in 17 countries.

This supports a wide range of industry-leading Internet access, Internet backbone and IP Virtual Private Network Services.

Work is underway to integrate the Concert network with the IP network that AT&T announced a year ago it was acquiring from IBM.

When this integration is completed, as expected, within the next 18 months, Concert IP network will extend to more than 60 cities worldwide and will support web hosting, application services and other e-business solutions.