Deutsche Telekom has made little secret this year of the fact that its American wireless unit is on thin ice; whether that's a result of poor coverage, a failure to keep pace technologically, weak spectrum allocation, or a combination thereof is a source of endless debate, but none of it is stopping T-Mobile USA from pushing forward aggressively with a nationwide 21Mbps HSPA+ rollout in 2010. Of course, network buildouts of that magnitude don't come cheap, and hungry investors are still marching on DT's doorstep asking when they might be able to expect black ink. A couple loose-lipped tipsters to German paper Handelsblatt have said that the next step could very well involve a major partnership with another carrier -- as opposed to an outright acquisition like we've heard before -- possibly with Clearwire, MetroPCS, or AT&T. T-Mobile USA has been famously tight-lipped so far on its 4G plans, instead concentrating on building out a solid 3.75G one, which means that its long-term plans are wide open -- partnering with Clearwire would likely mean aligning itself with WiMAX, while both MetroPCS and AT&T have already committed to LTE. Another possibility apparently being thrown around involves bringing in a financial partner (a sugar daddy, if you will) to shore up the carrier's bottom line, but either way, we suspect this'll all end up deciding the carrier's post-21Mbps strategy.

Sometimes, properly taking your lumps is the best way to learn a lesson and move forward, and Deutsche Telekom -- T-Mobile USA's corporate parent -- isn't pulling any punches about the mess it's gotten itself into in recent years. CFO Timotheus Hoettges has gone on the record in Germany this week saying that there's "no question that [they] lost customers because many of [their] customers couldn't get 3G," a painful acknowledgment that T-Mobile's old attitude toward high-speed data -- rely on EDGE supplemented by an extensive WiFi hotspot network -- as its larger competitors built out large swaths of genuine 3G coverage has ultimately hit the company in the pocketbook. For what it's worth, they seem to be making up for lost ground with a mega-rapid HSPA+ rollout (which Hoettges says will command some €3.5 billion -- about $5.2 billion -- of DT's investment cash this year), and there's still this whole Project Dark mystery to occupy our collective imagination, so the depth of the company's commitment to its American subsidiary seems genuine. Interestingly, Hoettges went on to say that they still haven't decided on a 4G strategy with "all options" still on the table. Ultimately, "all options" is going to mean either WiMAX, LTE, or capitulation, so we'll just have to sit back and wait to see how this develops.

[Via mocoNews]

Word is that Deutsche Telekom (the parent company of T-Mobile) is now actively engaged in talks with Clearwire and MetroPCS to expand its 4G network. This isn't terribly shocking to hear, considering that most other providers (including AT&T, Verizon and Sprint) are already either heavy into negotiations or in the process of upgrading their infrastructure. Though the company hasn't yet said anything about planned expansions, word is its looking for the most "cost-effective" way to build nationwide networks capable of higher speeds.

Eerily mirroring the situation with T-Mobile in the UK, disgruntled Deutsche Telekom shareholders are apparently now turning their attention to the company's US outpost, now that the British woes are on the fast track to resolution thanks to a tie-up with Orange. The Financial Times is reporting that the bell isn't tolling quite yet for T-Mobile USA -- key players are still on board with the company's plan to get back into the game with an accelerated 3G rollout, which means that alternative strategies aren't actively being considered right this second. Word has it that the clock has been set for mid-2010, though, at which point red ink on the balance sheet is going to mean a more drastic change in direction -- something like a merger with Sprint or a move to transform the carrier into an ultra-value brand concentrating on prepaid service with a possible MetroPCS or Leap / Cricket buy. What color do you get when you combine magenta and yellow, anyway?

With T-Mobile UK and Orange now having to (potentially) learn to play nice, Deutsche Telekom is already looking ahead to its next big target: Sprint Nextel. According to a Telegraph report, the telecom giant, with an estimated value of $60.45 billion, has called in advisers from Deutsche Bank as it reportedly prepares to submit an offer to the $10.6 billion-valued Now Network within the next three weeks. The assimilation of Sprint and Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile US under the same umbrella could give second-place AT&T a fight with a 78.2 million-strong customer base... but that said, we wouldn't anticipate any quick or smooth merger given the US carriers rely on substantially different bands (CDMA vs. GSM) for service. Hey, there's always WiMAX might come into play. Obviously there's a lot of unanswered questions here, but at this point it's all speculation given no actual offer has been thrown on the table -- and we bet Hesse will have some choice words on the matter. Keep an eye out on this one, things could very quickly get very, very interesting here.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Word on the street has been that Deutsche Telekom is being given the full-court press to do something with its unprofitable British operations, and the obvious choice would be to sell it off to one of its competitors -- Vodafone, Orange, O2, or 3. Apparently, though, Orange went ahead and made an offer just in the past few months, only to be turned down -- a sign that the French company either lowballed or that DT has very different plans on its mind. Rumors are circulating now that a restructuring will be announced as soon as this week that could give T-Mobile UK some time to turn its red ink around, but if that falls through, it's said that Voda might be interested in swapping its Turkish division for it -- so hang tough, DT, you've got options on the table.

There's not exactly a ton of details on this one, but it looks like Deutsche Telekom CFO Timotheus Hoettges caused a bit of a stir at the company's recently shareholder meeting, where he reportedly suggested that T-Mobile UK would likely have to merge with another carrier or face the possibility of going bust. Specifically, Hoettges said that "in our view consolidation is a means to take excess capabilities out of the market," adding somewhat ominously that "nothing is unthinkable on our side." Of course, that immediately brings up the question of which carrier T-Mobile might merge with, and MarketingWeek suggests that one of the most likely suitors would be 3, which it currently ranked fifth in the UK market right behind T-Mobile, although O2, Orange, and Vodafone would no doubt also be in the running.

[Via Electronista]

It seems that large swaths of T-Mobile Germany's network have been down for much of the day today, which -- in our books, anyway -- is as good a reason as any to flip cars and light things on fire (thankfully, though, it seems they've restrained themselves so far). Only voice and SMS are affected, which is pretty cool since there are other ways to text and talk using data alone; that said, it's still a major bummer, and T-Mobile's currently investigating the cause of the outage. Remain calm, everyone -- remember, ganging up on that cell tower and knocking it over only makes things worse, not better.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We can't recall the last time a mega-corp informed the public that it had a "good" quarter (as in, it literally described the quarter as "good" in its headline), but we can't help but chuckle at this one. Deutsche Telekom has done what few other companies have managed to do of late, and that's post an impressive Q3. Even in a "difficult market environment," net income was up €0.6 billion ($775 million) to €0.9 billion ($1.16 billion) compared to a year ago, and it managed to snag 670,000 new T-Mobile USA customers all the while. As with most other carriers these days, DT also found lots of income flowing in from data usage; total data revenue (excluding messaging) was up 28.3% to a whopping €639 million ($825 million). For number crunchers and optimists alike, tap the read link for more material you're sure to love.

[Via mocoNews]

Tsk, tsk, Deutsche Telekom -- there you go making trouble again. After the FCC took a good, hard look at the prospective Verizon-Alltel merger, it also took a peek at foreign-controlled assets in other wireless phone companies. What it found was that Deutsche Telekom AG actually owns 10% more than the US legal limit of T-Mobile USA; as it stands, DT has a "30%, non-controlling interest in a common carrier license," while the limit here for such a scenario is 20%. The company has 30 days to respond with how it plans to come into compliance, but reports are suggesting that simple reshuffling / paperwork could probably clear things up. If only life were so easy for the rest of us, huh?

[Via phonescoop]

There's still plenty of emerging details and news on the iPhone 3G kicking around, but here's what you need to know from the minor bits floating around over the past few days:

• Jobs also told NYT that Apple's acquisition of PA Semi was, in fact, intended to reduce Apple's reliance on third-party chip makers. Specifically, he said, "PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods." So, guess that's that.
• Per the feature showing up missing on a number of Apple's international iPhone 3G product pages, iLounge compiled a list of carriers which may or may not planning on implementing visual voicemail. Vodafone in Europe, for example, will not have it at launch, and will delay its rollout until later this year.
• A video of a new iPhone beta build running on live hardware shows videos now in portrait or landscape modes, and includes video playlists. We'll take it.
• Although DT's iPhone page reads differently, German paper Welt has it that T-Mobile Germany will be selling it for €1 -- so basically free, not unlike O2's iPhone 3G launch in the UK.

Update: T-Mobile just made the German pricing official.

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]

Read - Jobs mentions PA Semi plans
Read - Visual voicemail support varies from carrier to carrier
Read - Beta build with portrait-mode video
Read - DT releasing it for €1 (see also their iPhone page)

Just a day after hearing that T-Mobile lost its magenta suit against Telia, more bad news on the legal front has been handed down to the carrier. Just this week, the Supreme Court decided to reject T-Mob's appeal in a trifecta of cases "involving the legal remedies available in millions of cellphone contracts." Each case centered around the same issue: "whether state laws that limit the ability of companies to prohibit consumers from banding together to pursue class action lawsuits are preempted by federal law." In layman's terms, T-Mobile had attempted to ban class actions and require its customers to resolve any gripes via arbitration, which clearly didn't pan out so well. Hit the read link to read the rest, Mr. 1L.

[Via PhoneScoop]

Well, would you look at that -- our good friend Deutsche Telekom seems to have lost a lawsuit it filed against rival European wireless carrier Telia over its use of the color magenta in its logo. The Danish Eastern Regional High Court today ruled that Telia and DT don't compete directly in the Danish market and that Telia isn't using the same magenta shade, leading the court to overturn an injunction DT sought against Telia's use of the color. On top of that, the court further ruled that Deutsche Telekom has to fork over 1.5M kroner ($316,188) in court costs and attorneys' fees to Telia, which probably stings a little more than having to share a color. Of course, now that magenta is the People's Color, maybe DT should look into playing a little nicer, don't you think?

[Thanks, Andreas]

Germany's Deutsche Telekom apparently discovered over the weekend -- or "discovered," as the case may be -- that there seem to have been some cases of "illegal use" of landline and wireless usage data back in 2005 and 2006, and it has turned the case over to state prosecutors for investigation. That's the official line anyway, but the inside track says that the data had been collected by DT to track calls between its employees and journalists at tumultuous time for the company; plans had been announced to cut over 30,000 jobs from the roster back in '05, and efforts were seemingly in full swing to prevent leaks to the press. See, all this time we'd thought those pink-clad T-Mobile agents following us everywhere, jumping in bushes or ducking around corners whenever we glanced their way were just watching out for our best interests and trying to be friendly. Who knew?

Echoing statements made by other carriers offering the iPhone, Deutsche Telekom has gone on record at its recent annual meeting saying that iPhone customers on its T-Mobile network in Germany are shattering mobile internet usage stats, outpacing users of other handsets by a factor of 30 (yes, thirty). Without going into too much detail -- wouldn't want to irritate the Cupertino mothership, after all -- DT said that it has sold in excess of 100,000 units since its November launch, a number that meets its expectations. The smart money says that data usage is going nowhere but up once the darned thing launches with a serious radio, too, so let's just hope the satisfaction doesn't turn into sorrow when the airwaves get saturated with overzealous Safari sessions.