After several months of reports that T-Mobile USA might be sold, merged with another carrier, or entered into an IPO, Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann finally dispelled the rumors. According to the Wall Street Journal, Obermann said that Deutsche Telekom is "commited to keeping and growing T-Mobile USA," and that they "consider the US market to be highly attractive in the years to come."
Obermann also said that "We aren't considering multi-billion dollar deals," implying that a deal with Sprint or any other carrier would be out of the question. Just over a week ago we heard a similar story when T-Mobile USA CEO, Robert Dotson, said that "What you never want to do is take one company that is going through challenges and take another company going through challenges," and put them together (referring to T-Mobile and Sprint).
This still leaves the possibility of a joint venture with Clearwire, which would essentially be a way for T-Mobile to acquire more spectrum (4G, no less), reach more consumers, and do it all at blazing fast speeds. The only real question as to whether or not a joint venture with Clearwire makes any sense, is the fact that T-Mobile recently announced plans to continue upgrading their network to HSPA+, claiming that their 3.75G speeds are faster than the 4G speeds of WiMAX.
I'm happy that T-Mobile finally decided to put these rumors to rest, and also glad to hear they'll be sticking around for awhile. The wireless industry needs companies like T-Mobile with their economic-friendly plans to help keep competition alive. Do you think T-Mobile's making the right decision, or should they pursue other options? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
