Takeover changes dynamics of German mobile market

Following the acquisition of telecom reseller debitel by Hamburg-based Internet access provider Freenet, there is likely to be a significant realignment of the German mobile market. The combined company will be the third largest mobile operator in Germany behind T-Mobile and Vodafone but ahead of E-Plus and O2. Freenet paid €1.63 billion (US$2.54 billion) for debitel; the two companies had combined 2007 sales of EUR5.23 billion. The new player will have more than 19 million subscribers.

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