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US Tie-Up Moves Closer for T-Mobile ...
(23 Nov 2009, BWCS Staff)German telecoms operator Deutsche Telekom is said to be searching for a partner to help out with its American mobile business T-Mobile USA. The company is reportedly looking for fresh funds to pour into building a new high-speed data network across the USA. Reports in the German business newspaper Handelsblatt, quoting "company sources" claim that the German giant is in the initial stages of the search but remains firmly wedded to its network investment strategy. The paper also said that an IPO in the US should not be ruled out if a suitable partner fails to appear.
The Handelsblatt article names several possible partners for the ailing cellular service provider, including American mobile companies MetroPCS, AT&T Wireless as well as US Wimax operator Clearwire. The newspaper also believes that venture capitalist or private equity funds may try to get involved.
Deutsche Telekom's US wing has long been in the shadow of its larger rivals - AT&T and the Vodafone backed Verizon Wireless, both of whom have more advanced 3G networks and bigger customer bases. At the other end of the scale, T-Mobile USA is losing customers to smaller but cheaper rivals.
In September of this year, following the news that T-Mobile in the UK had agreed to merge its operations Orange, rumours emerged that the US wing was about to announce a similar move. At the time it appeared that Deutsche Telekom had decided to try to take over Sprint Nextel. DT reportedly called in advisers from Deutsche Bank to try to broker a deal to give it control of the third largest mobile company in the US.
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