Office in Hungary

BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLC
29 September 1999

                BT SETS UP OFFICE IN HUNGARY

BT today announced a step forward in its extended
expansion into Central Europe with the opening of an office in the
Hungarian capital of Budapest - its first in the region.

     The office will enable BT to develop its presence in
a market whose telecommunications sector is preparing for full
liberalisation by the year 2001.  BT has operated  in the region since
1996 using its distributor, the US-owned Global TeleSystems Group, to
offer communications services for more than a hundred national
and multinational companies in Hungary provided by the wholly-
owned BT subsidiary, Concert.

   Like other markets in Central Europe, such as the
Czech Republic and Poland, Hungary's telecommunications sector is to undergo
rapid expansion in the next few years.  Market revenues
of around £552 million in 1999 are expected to more than double to
about £1.2 billion by 2002.

    Initially, BT will take advantage of the already
liberalised segments of the market which include leased lines, data
transmission,satellite communications and the Internet.  International and
long-distance voice telephony and networks are currently the monopoly
of state incumbent Matav.

     Pat Gallagher, president of BT Europe, said:
'Hungary is the first step in our expansion into the region. BT's goal in
Hungary, as everywhere else in the world, is to provide high-quality,
technologically innovative services in a customer-friendly manner.

    ' BT's worldwide expansion is based in general on two
factors - technological improvement and liberalisation.  In Hungary
these factors may be combined with BT's first class, innovative
technologies enabling the company to compete successfully with
established companies as soon as the market opens up.'

     Christoph Thomas, managing director of BT Hungaria,
said: 'We are well placed to exploit existing opportunities in business
communications and to react swiftly as the market liberalises.

     ' We are planning to grow our roots here, while
making the best use of BT's global capabilities.'

     Initially, BT's new office will employ a core team
of local technical and business experts.