One2One sold to Deutsche Telekom for £8.4bn

NEWS German telecoms giant, Deutsche Telekom (DT) is set to buy One2One for £8.4bn. The deal is the largest ever to hit the UK wireless network industry, and brings DT's mobile phone subscriber base to over 12 million throughout Europe. According to DT CEO, Ron Sommer, the purchase is in line with DT's strategy to tackle the UK market head-on. In a statement issued today, Sommer said: "We are acquiring an attractive and well-established mobile communications network operator with a strong brand name and a substantial potential for growth in one of the EU's primary markets" One2One was jointly owned by Cable and Wireless and Media One, and its sale has been rumoured for over six months. Analysts now expect DT to boost the operator's presence in the business market.