‘No Plan B’ for T-Mobile

Deutsche Telekom of Germany still faces long-term problems with its American subsidiary, T-Mobile USA, after the proposed $39 billion takeover by AT&T was scrapped.

Deutsche Telekom’s chief executive, René Obermann, said that T-Mobile, the fourth-largest mobile phone carrier in the United States, needed additional investment. But the failure of the deal with AT&T gives the company some breathing room in the short term. Under the terms of the deal announced in March, AT&T will pay a break-up fee to Deutsche Telekom that includes $3 billion in cash and wireless spectrum. “With the spectrum we’re getting, we have a better chance of expanding the network in many markets,” Obermann said. “That is not a final solution. In the long term, we need more spectrum and network capacity. We are working on that.” Obermann declined to give specifics on the next steps for its American business. T-Mobile needs to make large investments in its mobile phone infrastructure to keep up with consumers’ growing use of data packages on their smartphones.