T-Mobile USA, the Deutsche Telekom subsidiary that is the fourth largest US mobile network operator, added 981,000 net new customers in the first quarter and reported a 14 per cent increase in revenues to $4.6bn.

Deutsche Telekom has emerged as a potential bidder for Sprint Nextel, the struggling third largest US carrier. A combined company would potentially have more subscribers than the two largest US mobile operators, AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon Communications and Britain’s Vodafone.