Looks like AT&T is looking to expand to Europe, big time. The American carrier is exploring different options in an effort to take advantage of the current economic crisis looming on the Old Continent.
Various reports suggested different things: one said AT&T may be looking to acquire 30% of Telefonica; the other – they’re only interested in the group’s assets in Latin America; and then another – they want O2 UK. Telefonica on its end denied an approach by AT&T had been made.
But that’s not all. A Bloomberg report claims assets owned by Vodafone have been considered, and so has EE – the UK joint venture between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom.
Finally, if AT&T couldn’t acquire anything in Europe, they may choose to offer services on an over-the-top basis directly to end-users. Possible candidates include the connected car and digital home services markets, which the US operator is actively involved in.
The US operator sees Europe as under-developed in terms of LTE deployment, which would present it with an opportunity. Moreover, the mentioned crisis could also make some assets more affordable now (than later).
We’re eager to see what AT&T could bring to European mobile market and we’ll get back to you as soon as there’s something worth talking about to add…
[Via: MobileWorldLive, image from TelecomLead]