Rumours of a merger between Orange and T-Mobile persist
In a startling revelation for the UK telecoms sector it has been revealed that T-Mobile and Orange could be merged under one owner if France Telecom decides to bid for the T-Mobile operation. Deutsche Telekom, the current owner of the T-Mobile operation, is under severe pressure from shareholders to try and realign the business and reduce debts. While officially there has been no announcement it is known that directors of the company are looking to possibly sell off the T-Mobile operation.
It is not widely known that the UK is the only European market of note which still has five network operators in O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and 3 mobile. Many people had expected mergers and acquisitions between the five leaders over the years but so far nothing has materialised. However it looks as though the economic downturn around the world has hit the likes of Deutsche Telekom fairly hard and the directors are now under pressure to rearrange the group.
If T-mobile does become available this could produce something of a bidding war as leaders in the UK and Europe look to strengthen their positions in key growth market. In theory, this could be very good news for the consumer with competition pushing prices lower and lower.
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