Why European telcos are looking to make deals

News yesterday that Deutsche Telekom was giving Sprint the once over shouldn't come as any surprise. European telcos-battling tough competition and getting hammered by landline losses-have been haunting the M&A scene for months.
 
They've been through it before, earlier this decade, as megadeals were the order of the day; and they've spent most of the time since the turn of the millennium recovering from their telcos-gone-wild approach to expansion through acquisition.
 
This time around, they're taking a more stately approach … and letting out just enough information to see how shareholders feel about possible deals before making them happen.
 
DT's not the only one floating trial balloons. Last month, France Telecom let it be known it was considering pursuing TeliaSonera. Shareholders let the air out of that one, dropping FT shares 10 percent in one day's trading. DT investors have taken a little more neutral stance on the Sprint deal. DT shares were down 13 cents on the day.
 
For more:
- Read the International Herald Tribune story [1] 
- The Wall Street Journal's Evan Newmark blogs [2] that a DT-Sprint deal's a stinker
- The New York Times writes [3] a DT-Sprint deal isn't happening

Related articles:
What's behind FT's interest in TeliaSonera and Telenor? [4] 
FT says it's shopping, but not ready to buy--yet [5]