Deutsche Telekom’s finance chief says the firm will take its time to find the best solution for its troubled US business, amid rumors of a deal with Sprint.
Tim Höttges told Telecoms Europe.net the firm is mulling several options for T-Mobile USA, but noted there is no pressure to rush into any deals to boost the position of the loss-making division.
“All options remain open in the United States,” Höttges says, adding. “We have a flexible position and are looking into several possibilities.”
Those ‘possibilities’ include “disposing of parts or all of the business,” an IPO “or just entering into a network partnership,” the CFO noted.
Reports late yesterday indicated the German incumbent was in talks with US carrier Sprint regarding the sale of T-Mobile USA in return for a chunk of shares in the merged company, Bloomberg states, however a DT spokesman declined to “comment on speculations.”
The telco unveiled sweeping financial reforms for its US business in January, designed to return it to growth by the year-end. It has parachuted Philipp Humm into the chief executive seat to lead the transformation, noting one of his main priorities will be to reduce subscriber churn, which contributed to a 7% fall in 2010 EBITDA to $5.5 billion (€3.9 billion).