Deutsche Telekom rejected an offer from Iliad for its mobile business in the US and said regulators there should help smaller players compete against bigger rivals if they are not allowed to merge.

Deutsche Telekom makes about a third of its sales and a fifth of core profits in the US, but believes its subsidiary T-Mobile US lacks critical mass, frequencies and capital to compete with leaders AT&T and Verizon. Its plan to sell T-Mobile US to local rival Sprint foundered on Wednesday, leaving Iliad – a much smaller French company – as the remaining bidder, although others could still emerge.

Deutsche Telekom chief executive Tim Höttges made it clear that Iliad's $15 billion (€11.2 billion) offer was not good enough and there was no need to rush into a sale. – (Reuters/Bloomberg)