Deutsche Telekom eyes stake in Fon - report

Nieuws Breedband Wereld 28 JAN 2013
Deutsche Telekom eyes stake in Fon - report
Deutsche Telekom is considering acquiring a stake in Wi-Fi operator Fon as it looks to cope with rising mobile data demand, reports the Wall Street Journal citing unnamed sources familiar with the talks. The sources said that Telekom and Fon have already signed a letter of intent, although the size of the stake and its value are not decided. 

An agreement with Fon would provide a major boost to Deutsche Telekom's strategy to grow revenues from mobile data services. In Germany, it offers access to over 11,000 hotspots, while through partner networks, customers can access over 50,000 hotspots worldwide.

Fon already has agreements with a number of major operators in Europe, including in Belgium, France, the UK, Poland, Portugal and most recently the Netherlands, but has yet to partner with a German operator. Based in Spain, Fon operates nearly 8 million hotspots worldwide, based on bandwidth sharing with fixed broadband modems sold by the company or its operator partners. Its shareholders already include BT, Google, Skype and a number of venture capital firms. Alexander Puregger, COO at Fon, declined to comment on the report. 

Categories:

Internet,  Mobiel

Companies:

Deutsche Telekom,  FON

Regions:

Wereld

Tags:

Data services, Wi-Fi, Bearer technology, Company, Services, Wireless, Corporate, Internet Access, Consumer, Enterprise, Client, M&A buyouts & divestments

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