Announcing annual figures that showed a 2% decline in market share but net income up 47% at the equivalent of $3,480m, Deutsche Telekom AG chairman Ron Sommer said the company was in talks with Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA. However, Olivetti responded that the talks were to confirm an initial agreement made last November when Olivetti and France Telecom said they were forming a joint venture with US partners, to set up Italy’s second major telephone network, with Bell Atlantic Corp. Sprint Corp and Deutsche Telekom expected to be involved. The market share decline resulted from call-back services for international calls and the approval of corporate networks for closed user groups. When it floats in the autumn, Telekom is considering listing its shares in Tokyo in addition to its planned New York and German listings. 1.2m Germans have now registered with the company’s share information forum, Revenue at Deutsche Telekom rose 3.6% to $43,400m.
