DT chief fuels Sprint acquisition rumors

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Will Deutsche Telekom make a move on Sprint Nextel, or are there too many hurdles to overcome for such a supersized intermarket merger?

The German telco has, for the most part, been typically stoic in its lack of comment about a possible deal. But there has been plenty of speculation from analysts and competitors about DT's ability--or inability--to merge two incompatible technologies, not to mention cultures.

DT CEO René Obermann may have revealed the telco's hand a bit Thursday when he told analysts during the company's earnings call that, "We can't rule out acquisitions which, when evaluated under strict financial and business criteria, would bring a clear profit and return on investment. That we must do and we will continue to do in the future."

A person briefed on the situation told the International Herald Tribune that the German company and Sprint had been in talks about a possible takeover for two weeks. A deal could be worth some $52 billion, leapfrogging T-Mobile from third to first in the U.S. mobile market ahead of AT&T and Verizon. The Trib also reported the two companies already had approached the FCC about possible objections to the deal. Sprechen Sie Deutsches im Kansas City?

T-Mobile USA, by the way, reported it added one million customers in the first quarter, bringing it over the 30 million subscriber mark. -Dan

For more:
- read the International Herald Tribune's story

Nordic Operators Pursue iPhone

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:10:36 -0400

Piggy-backing on the deluge of announcements across Europe this week regarding which carriers will get exclusive rights to the iPhone in their countries, Nordic operators have also begun mentioning that they too are vying for the prize. TeliaSonera and Telenor both claim to be in talks with Apple over the iPhone, but neither could confirm that a deal had been made at this time.

Telenor operates primarily in Norway, while TeliaSonera has large operations in Sweden and Finland. If either strikes a deal with Apple, it will probably for national exclusivity in their respective countries.Ã‚Â "We have seen immense interest in the iPhone from our customers," explained Telenor spokesman Anders Krokan to Dow Jones. "We are still in talks, but I doubt we would be able to offer the iPhone this year."

Previously this week, Apple announced exlusive deals with carriers in the U.K., France and Germany. O2 got the U.K. deal, while Orange has exclusivity in France. T-Mobile locked down the deal in Germany.Ã‚Â A lot of contreversy has revolved around Apple's revenue sharing plan for calls originating from the iPhone--a practice O2's chief defended saying that such a system allows for the development of such innovative products.

For more:

- read this MarketWatch article