LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. reported that its newly acquired Western Wireless International Austria Corp. subsidiary has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Austrian business Tele.ring Telekom Service GmbH to Deutsche Telekom AG subsidiary T-Mobile Austria GmbH for $1.6 billion.
Alltel, which closed on its acquisition of Western Wireless Corp. last week, noted the deal’s price was subject to downward adjustments if certain operating performance targets are not met and must be approved by the European Commission and Austrian telecommunications regulators.
T-Mobile said the deal will bolster its position as Austria’s second-largest operator with nearly 3 million customers and control of 38 percent of the Austrian wireless market. Tele.ring is currently the country’s fourth-largest carrier with nearly 1 million customers.
Western Wireless announced last month that it had agreed to sell its Irish wireless operation Meteor Mobile Communications Ltd. to a subsidiary of Eircom Group plc for about $500 million. Western Wireless International still has wireless interests in several other countries, including Slovenia, Georgia, Bolivia, Haiti, Ghana and Cote d’ Ivoire.
