Andre Yoskowitz
4 May 2008 16:09
The parent company of cell phone carrier T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, is in talks to either merge with or acquire the large mobile phone carrier Sprint.
Citing a gradual weakening of the US dollar and worsening profits at Sprint, Deutsche Telekom is now looking for any transaction that will help T-Mobile's US branch gain ground in the large US market.
The deal, if it goes through, would make Deutsche Telekom the largest American carrier, and with the currency rate as it is, the deal would be cheaper than Telekom's acquisition of VoiceStream in 2001.
Sprint has declined to comment on "market rumors."
There is however a hitch to this report. T-Mobile uses the GSM standard while Sprint uses the mainly North American-focused CDMA network. T-Mobile phones are not compatible on the Sprint network and vice versa meaning Sprint customers would have to trade in their handsets or purchase new ones that are GSM (SIM card) compatible.