Madrid (Standard&Poor's) September 9, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on integrated telecommunications operators France Telecom S.A. (FT; A-/Stable/A-2) and Deutsche Telekom AG (DT; BBB+/Stable/A-2) are unaffected by yesterday's announcement that the two companies are to merge their U.K. mobile businesses. Although we acknowledge the challenges that mergers and joint management can entail, we are of the view that the transaction should be mildly positive for both companies from a credit perspective over the medium term. From a business risk standpoint, the new entity's consolidated market position and potential to extract material cost synergies should help it to withstand a fiercely competitive U.K. mobile telephony market and boost operating margins. Financially, DT's leverage metrics
