Driven by its thriving US subsidiary T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom has slightly raised its annual guidance. Furthermore, the Bonn-based group exceeded market expectations with its first-quarter results, bolstered by rising customer numbers. 'Largely unaffected by global events, our business remains stable,' CEO Tim Höttges stated on Wednesday.

T-Mobile has long been growing significantly faster than Telekom's other business units. In the first quarter, the US mobile carrier recorded double-digit percentage growth in both revenue and operating profit. During the same period, Telekom increased its total revenue by 4.7 percent to 29.9 billion euros, while adjusted EBITDA rose by 7.5 percent to 11.5 billion euros. For 2026, the company is now targeting an adjusted operating result of 47.5 billion euros, up from the previous 47.4 billion. Deutsche Telekom shares rose by approximately one percent in pre-market trading on Lang & Schwarz.

'The figures confirm Deutsche Telekom's operational strength,' commented Marcel Tietjen, technology expert at consultancy firm BearingPoint. 'However, the real story is unfolding beyond the balance sheet. Telekom is evolving into a provider of sovereign AI capacity for industry and public administration. In doing so, it is occupying a field where geopolitical independence will become just as crucial as bandwidth in the future.' The Bonn-based group is expanding its cloud business and commissioned an Artificial Intelligence (AI) data center at the beginning of the year.

SPECULATION OVER TELEKOM/T-MOBILE MERGER

Telekom did not initially comment on a potential merger with T-Mobile on Wednesday. According to insiders, the two companies could be merged into a new holding company. With a transaction volume of around 400 billion euros, this would represent the world's largest merger of two listed companies. Furthermore, it would create a global industry leader in terms of market capitalization.

Experts suggest such a transaction would provide Telekom with the financial flexibility for future acquisitions. Most importantly, for acquisitions in the US, there would no longer be a risk of the stake in T-Mobile—currently around 53 percent—falling below the 50 percent threshold. These as-yet unconfirmed considerations have so far met with little enthusiasm from investors.

(Report by Hakan Ersen, edited by Sabine Wollrab. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)