Report: DT's Obermann to stop direct oversight of T-Mobile USA

Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann will offload direct oversight of T-Mobile USA to DT CFO Timotheus Höettges as he focuses on strategic priorities and how to grow DT's business outside of its traditional telecom offerings, multiple reports said.

According to reports in Bloomberg  and Handelsblatt, which cited unnamed sources, Höettges will handle the T-Mobile USA portfolio and its effective acquisition of flat-rate player MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS). That deal, which must be approved by U.S. regulators, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013.

A DT spokeswoman declined to comment.

The reports said DT's supervisory board must approve the changes in December, which will allow Obermann to concentrate on online offerings, M2M opportunities like telemedicine and other innovation areas. Obermann spent much of 2012 refocusing T-Mobile's strategy following AT&T's (NYSE:T) failed attempt to purchase T-Mobile last year in a $39 billion deal. Obermann came to the U.S. to find a permanent T-Mobile CEO, settling on John Legere as the successor to Philipp Humm, who left earlier this year for Vodafone.

Höettges will certainly have his hands full managing the MetroPCS deal, but it will not be nearly as complex as the AT&T acquisition. Regulators are expected to give their blessing to the MetroPCS deal, analysts have said, because it will strengthen T-Mobile's spectrum position and make it a more viable No. 4 competitor in the U.S. market.

For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this Handelsblatt article (translated via Google Translate)

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