...FRANKFURT (S&P Global Ratings) May 9, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and CreditWatch placement on German incumbent telecommunications network operator Deutsche Telekom AG (DT; ###+/Watch Neg/A-2) are not affected by possible increased competition from Vodafone Group Plc following the latter's announced plans to acquire Liberty Global Plc's cable operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. Vodafone has agreed to buy Liberty's operations in Germany and the other aforementioned Eastern European countries for an enterprise value of 18.4 billion. We believe there is uncertainty as to potential concessions Vodafone may have to make to obtain regulatory approval, precluding a precise assessment of the implications for these markets, at this stage. Under the current market structure in Germany, we assume that DT will cede some incremental subscriber share to cable operators and other broadband players over time (from about 40% at end-2017). Following the...
