LONDON LONDON – Standard&Poor's CreditWire 1/12/98 -- Standard&Poor's today assigned its double-'A'-minus/'A-1'-plus ratings to the ECU 3 billion Debt Issuance Program of Deutsche Telekom AG (DT). Individual drawdowns, as and when they are issued, will also be rated. The ratings reflect the company's very strong business profile tempered by aggressive levels of debt and an increasingly competitive operating environment. The company's business profile, as the primary operator in Europe's largest telecom market, is exceptionally strong. DT's monopoly on basic telephone services in Germany has ended as of Jan. 1st, 1998. Since ex-monopoly operations generate about 70% of total revenues, the challenges posed by the full market liberalization are significant. The main tasks faced by DT will be
