Telecompaper

Deutsche Telekom has asked banking advisers to study a possible bid for Sprint Nextel, the Telegraph reported. Sources said Deutsche Telekom could submit a bid for Sprint, which has a market valuation of USD 10.6 billion, within the next few weeks. Deutsche Telekom chief executive Rene Obermann has pledged to reverse the fortunes of T-Mobile UK and T-Mobile USA. Deutsche Telekom has a market value of EUR 41.5 billion. With T-Mobile UK recently placed in a joint venture with France Telecom's Orange, Obermann is believed to now be focusing his efforts on the struggling US operation. T-Mobile and Orange are expected to inform the European Commission competition authorities of the full details of the proposed merger by late-October. Tom Alexander, chief executive of Orange UK and the man who will lead the joint venture, said he did not expect regulators to "interfere" with the deal because dominant operators in several other European countries had larger market shares. However, the UK Department for Business could force the combined group to give up rights to some spectrum if the merger goes ahead.