DT loses 497,000 lines, remains upbeat

A sharp decline in wireline access lines was the main culprit in the third-quarter earnings report for Germany's Deutsche Telekom, in which the company saw earning dip 87% to about $381 million. The company lost 497,000 access lines, but amazingly, that's fewer than it's lost in each of the last two quarters (588,000 in Q2 and 516,000 in Q1).

While those lost lines could have led to a very gloomy earnings report, the company and observers were upbeat because both revenue and net profit increased. CEO Rene Obermann also said DT was on track to meet its 2007 year-end goals.

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- Read this story in The International Herald Tribune