As the parent of struggling T-Mobile, DT might see a takeover of Sprint as a way to revive its listless U.K. and U.S. operations. DT chief executive officer Rene Obermann has been unhappy with the performance of T-Mobile, blaming it for the parent's first-quarter loss of 1.1 billion euros ($1.46 billion) earlier this year.

Facing stiff competition for mobile customers, T-Mobile has struggled in the No. 4 spot behind Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint.

DT enjoyed a turnaround in the second quarter, taking in a profit of 521 million euros ($751 million). But T-Mobile's global operations have continued to drag, squeaking by through cost cuts rather than sales or customer gains.

Obermann's latest fix for the U.K. segment, announced last week, is a merger to join the British operations of T-Mobile UK and France Telecom's Orange . That marriage will create the U.K's biggest mobile provider.

Now T-Mobile U.S. may be next on the list. Complaining of structural problems with T-Mobile U.S., Obermann has sunk almost 1 billion each year to improve the U.S. network. But the investment has yet to pay off.

Reports of a possible DT takeover of Sprint first surfaced in May of 2008 but didn't go far at that time.

A deal that would merge T-Mobile U.S. and Sprint could create a mobile powerhouse. But analysts aren't sure Obermann can pull it off.

First, DT would need to figure out how to integrate three different types of wireless technologies, said Sanford Bernstein analyst Robin Bienenstock in a research report released Monday. After joining forces in 2005, Sprint and Nextel have faced headaches combining their two incompatible technologies. The situation could be worse for DT as it tries to assimilate T-Mobile's GSM, Sprint's CDMA, and Nextel's iDEN technologies.

Source: CNET News