I have to say this news is not exactly surprising given that we have already heard some whisperings of Deutsche Telekom looking to make moves with its US arm. Of course, that might be under the guise of a merger, buyout or in the eyes of this article, an IPO. Way back in September an article surfaced that Deutsche Telekom majority shareholders were looking to take action in order to turn the tide on the DT US division. Things have not been so rosy for T-Mobile in recent quarters and while we await 4th quarter 2009 numbers, the rumor mill is churning yet again. According to the WSJ and unnamed sources, Deutsche Telekom is “preparing for a possible initial public offering or spinoff of its U.S. T-Mobile arm, in an effort to assuage shareholders disenchanted with the company’s share performance”

Obviously, the words “spin off” raise more alarm than IPO, as an IPO could be a way to raise significant capital. Using such capital to strengthen the network, buy up smaller competitors or move swiftly to launch a 4G network would be most welcome. A spin off however could mean various things and place T-Mobile in a precarious position as how to develop a strategy that advances them in the years to come. We should point out that all of this is speculation and that “unnamed sources” could be anyone in the organization, including the night security guard.

We should also be careful to point out that the article does make note that Deutsche Telekom is “historically risk averse” and that the company may decide that an IPO/Spin Off option isn’t the next step. Unfortunately and much to my chagrin and that of our readers is the line that says a merger with a U.S. rival could also be on the table, though less likely. When I consider the words “merger” with a US rival, I sure as hell hope someone means Sprint, Leap, MetroPCS or someone, anyone other than AT&T bringing about a single GSM operator in the US. I would just cry like a baby if that happened.

What say you on this? Anyone interested in buying T-Mobile stock?

Wall Street Journal

The full read link isn’t available thanks to the BS methods of pay per read, so hit the full article here!

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As it stands, I’ll all but worn out from the rumors regarding T-Mobile and any number of arranged marriages parent company Deutsche Telekom might be considering. Whether it’s Sprint, MetroPCS or the guy who lives down the block, rumors regarding a merger/buyout have been steady in recent months. According to an article at xchangemang, Deutsche Telekom is set to announce “Strategie 2.0” in early 2010, which will “hightlight further partnerships for its T-Mobile units and more.” Of course, this could mean European units and the US branch or one without the other. The article does mention the rumors regarding T-Mobile and Sprint as evidence that Deutsche Telekom will “marry off its divisions when necessary.”

Speaking to German magazine Der Spiegel, Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann stated “I still see good growth prospects in the United States, particularly in the area of mobile internet…we want to utilize those.” While what actual utilization he is referring to remains unclear, what is becomingly increasingly clear is that T-Mobile wants to turn around its US branch sooner rather than later.

xchangemag

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Here we go again, yet another Sprint/T-Mobile merger rumor. Although this time the odds seemed to have improved to 55%. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint shares have increased more than 6 percent after Citigroup raised the wireless provider’s ratings on Wednesday. Michael Rollins, a Citigroup analyst believes that T-Mobile will be buying Sprint within the next year.

As you already know, Sprint, the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier has been losing subscribers left and right due to the lack of “exceptional” customer service, an area in which T-Mobile excels. Rollins claimed Sprint will stem some of its subscriber losses over the next six months. Rollings also claims that Sprint is doing a better job of promoting its products and services in addition to improving its customer service experience. But that’s not all. Rollins wrote in a client memo that the probability “has risen to around 55 percent.”

Even though many observers say such a deal would be disastrous because Sprint operates on a CDMA network while T-Mobile uses GSM technology. Rollins disputes that “if Sprint keeps its bad debt and churn levels down, it could be on its way to growth, with T-Mobile’s help.” And not to mention, they will truly challenge the nation’s top wireless carriers, AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless.

What do you guys think? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Xchange

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I must preface this and say by now, these rumors are starting to get old and frustrating. The wireless industry, which has of late seen more than its share of mergers and acquisitions, is again seeing T-Mobile take center stage in this, the latest round of merger talk. Reuters is reporting that Deutsche Telekom is seeking a partner for its U.S. branch, T-Mobile USA. Looking to shore up some help for its financial investment in US operations, possible partners again include MetroPCS and Clearwire. Surprisingly, AT&T is also mentioned as a possible partner, though I think the FCC would have some problems with one remaining GSM national carrier. A merger or acquisition of MetroPCS and Clearwire I think we can all get behind, anything that involves Magenta and the Death Star makes me want to seek out the nearest trash can. Not to be left out of the Reuters article is the mention of a Sprint takeover, which the author mentions is no longer under consideration by Deutsche Telekom, thank goodness.

While declining to comment on the Reuters article, Deutsche Telekom COO Hamid Akhavan speaking at the FT World Telecoms Conference did speak about the difficult situation in the United States.

“We have had some heavy headwinds … but we are quite optimistic that this trend can be reversed,” he said, attributing the problems to a delay in the group securing third generation networks and the population of Apple’s (AAPL.O) iPhone on a rival network.

According to the German newspaper cited by the Reuters article, Deutsche Telekom is still in the very early stages of searching for a partner but had abandoned other “potential strategies to bolster its U.S. business.”

So here were go again, more merger talk, what say you?’

Reuters

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Now here is a deal that makes significantly more sense for Deutsche Telekom: T-mobile and Clearwire sitting in a tree.  Just a few weeks after rumors surfaced again of another Deutsche Telekom/Sprint acquisition the rumor mill turns to unnamed sources who claim talks are underway between the companies. Why does this make more sense for T-mobile you might ask? Clearwire allows T-mobile to make giant leaps forward in the 4G game where  they are already playing catch up. Clearwire, needing additional capital to continue building out its network would clearly find cash flow from any type of transaction. While Clearwire is already in bed with Sprint on the whole Wimax 4G solutions, Clearwire has stated they are open to changing directions.

On another note, concerning the above rumor, T-mobile is said to be considering a partnership with MetroPCS who also have available spectrum for a 4G solution. MetroPCS has committed to LTE, Deutsche Telekom has committed to LTE, so what will T-mobile USA do? Was the Clearwire statement regarding a change in 4g direction a pre-cursor to merger movement or just a blanket statement that they are keeping their options open? Time will tell if this rumor has more muscle than the previous 63 Sprint buyout rumors, but one thing is for sure, T-mobile needs to turn things around and fast.

Moconews

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