Deutsche Telekom’s attempt to find a new investor or owner of its U.S. operations appears to have stagnated, with the German telecom giant reportedly now considering ownership of T-Mobile US for at least another year.
According to Reuters, DT’s management is looking at maintaining its current controlling stake in T-Mobile US through at least the currently scheduled round of U.S. spectrum auctions, which is to include the AWS-3 auctions scheduled for November and 600 MHz incentive auction set for mid-2015. T-Mobile US has been very vocal in petitioning the Federal Communications Commission on rulemaking for the upcoming spectrum auctions.
DT was reportedly close to selling its stake in T-Mobile US earlier this year to Sprint and its corporate owner Softbank, but that potential deal was scuttled by strong words from regulators and Sprint eventually moved on from such a plan. More recently France’s Iliad has attempted to put together an offer for a stake in T-Mobile US, though those efforts appear to be dimming. Dish Network has also reportedly been in talks about a stake in T-Mobile US, though so far nothing has come from those efforts.
DT’s wavering on its commitment to its U.S. operations has been an ongoing issue since it acquired the former VoiceStream Wireless for $35 billion. DT nearly unloaded T-Mobile US in 2011 to AT&T for $39 billion, but that deal was nixed by regulators that were looking to maintain four, independent nationwide wireless operators.
This latest round of questions comes at a time when T-Mobile US has shown considerable resilience in the domestic wireless market. The carrier has been the fastest growing U.S. wireless carrier over the past year, and has more recently become a strong boost to DT’s operations.
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