Deutsche Telekom CEO says keen on U.S. mobile consolidation

[March 02, 2017]    BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom is keen for its T-Mobile US subsidiary to take part in a consolidation of the U.S. mobile market and is open to being either a buyer or a seller, its chief executive said on Thursday.

Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Officer Tim Hoettges delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona March 2, 2015. REUTERS/Albert Gea

The German company has invested heavily in T-Mobile US to turn it into the group's revenue and profit driver, as shown by 2016 results published earlier.

"Are we rather seller or buyer? It always depends on the quality of the possibilities - I don't prejudge," CEO Tim Hoettges told a news conference. "We do everything from the point of view of value creation."

Sources told Reuters last month that Japan's SoftBank was prepared to cede control of U.S. number-four mobile carrier Sprint to enable a Sprint-T-Mobile merger, although it had not yet approached T-Mobile.

No merger talks are currently allowed between rival bidders in a U.S. airwave spectrum auction, which should end next month.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)

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