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Telekom: big deal ahead
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October 11, 1999: 11:06 a.m. ET
Director confirms the search is on: 'acquisitions not alliances'
By Staff Writer Rod Cant
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GENEVA (CNNfn) - Deutsche Telekom confirmed Monday that the collapse of its Global One joint venture with Sprint and France Telecom has whetted its appetite for a big deal.
"Our international strategy is not only based on Global One, we are looking at other opportunities, and there are many of them around the world," board member Gerd Tenzer, No. 2 to chairman Ron Sommer, told CNNfn. "We can be quick and we have a lot of money."
Although he would not comment on specific companies with whom Telekom might be talking, Tenzer was adamant the company had learned its lesson from the unraveling of Global One.
"Global One is not a failure, it will survive," he maintained, although he confirmed the board's view that "the alliance didn't work, and they won't work in the future. … Our future role will be in more acquisitions, more mergers, so that we are in the dominant position."
A deal could be in Europe or the United States, although Tenzer, speaking on the fringes of the Telecom 99 trade fair, did express an interest in a deal to boost the company's online strategy.
Deutsche Telekom (FDTE), through its T-Online unit, is the world's second-largest Internet service provider, with 3.6 million subscribers.
"We have to expand our Internet strategy from Germany to Europe and to the U.S.," he said, "and it could be quicker to acquire another ISP than to extend this ourselves."
Tenzer predicted the outcome of the bidding process for Global One -- both Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom (PFTE) have indicated they would like to buy out their partners -- could be over within a few weeks. Sprint (FON), which agreed last week to be bought for $129 billion by MCI WorldCom (WCOM), has indicated it wishes to dispose of its 50 percent holding.
Deutsche Telekom's international strategy was left in tatters earlier this year, when it abandoned its alliance with France Telecom in favor of a white knight takeover of Telecom Italia. Olivetti eventually won the battle for Telecom Italia, leaving Deutsche short of an international partner, and relations with France Telecom irretrievably soured. 
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Deutsche Telekom
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