Deutsche Telekom Plans Full T-Mobile US Acquisition as Home Market Headaches Mount

Tim Höttges is aiming higher across the Atlantic. The chief executive of Deutsche Telekom is pushing to take full control of T-Mobile US, the American wireless carrier that already generates roughly two-thirds of the group’s revenue. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Bonn-based company wants to buy out the remaining minority shareholders and complete a full merger. The move would cement the US operation as the undisputed centre of gravity for the German telecoms giant.

T-Mobile US is dangling fresh cash for its owners. The board recently approved a quarterly dividend of $1.02 per share, translating to $4.08 on an annualised basis. The first payout is scheduled for 10 September 2026, with a record date of 28 August. As the majority shareholder, Deutsche Telekom stands to collect a steady stream of dollar-denominated cash flow from a business that already dominates its income statement.

Back in Germany, the picture is more complicated. The company plans to switch off its legacy 2G network in the summer of 2028 to free up spectrum for modern services. That has triggered a clash with the car industry: about 5.5 million vehicles rely on 2G for their eCall emergency systems. The German Association of the Automotive Industry is demanding the network be kept alive for at least another decade. The TÜV organisation has proposed a compromise — inspectors would not count a missing eCall as a major fault during vehicle inspections. Yet Deutsche Telekom must balance the demands of a key industrial customer group against its own modernisation timetable.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Deutsche Telekom?

The domestic regulatory environment offers some comfort. A planned update to the Telecommunications Act — the TKG-Novelle — is expected to give the company more operational leeway in rolling out fibre-optic infrastructure. That could ease the cost burden of a network build-out that investors remain wary of, even as the group continues to buy back its own shares on a billion-euro scale. Meanwhile, a recently settled wage dispute with the Ver.di union has removed the immediate risk of strikes, though the new contract will push up personnel costs and squeeze operating margins in the Germany segment over the coming quarters.

All this plays out against a backdrop of mounting share-price pressure. The stock closed Friday at €26.66, a daily loss of 1.22%, while another data point put the session at €26.72. Over the week, the decline reached roughly 5.7%. The 52-week low of €25.99 is now dangerously close, and the price has fallen more than 22% from the 12-month high of €34.35. The relative strength index sits at 33.3 — flirting with oversold territory but offering no guarantee of a rebound. Chart watchers say a sustainable recovery would require the stock to regain its 200-day moving average at €28.94; failure to do so could lead to a direct test of the year’s troughs.

A key catalyst looms on 6 August, when Deutsche Telekom is scheduled to report second-quarter results. The numbers will reveal how the interplay of heavy investment, a new labour contract, and the steady US dividend stream is shaping profitability. For now, the bulls are betting on a strategic pivot westwards, while the bears are focused on the domestic drag and the technical deterioration just above the lows.