Sprint Nextel silent on report of DT mulling bid

The Wall Street Journal, quoting unidentified people familiar with the situation, reported that deliberations between Germany's Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of No. 4 wireless company T-Mobile, and Sprint Nextel were at "a preliminary stage and management may very well turn away."

Such a deal would catapult Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile wireless unit to the top spot in the U.S. market.

Sprint Nextel spokeswoman Leigh Horner said the company had no comment. The Overland Park, Kan.-based company's shares rose 83 cents, or 10.5 percent, to close at $8.72.

Deutsche Telekom did not comment.

Sprint Nextel's faltering stock price and the expected exodus of millions of subscribers this year have caused continued speculation about the company's future.

Qwest Communications International Inc. announced Monday that it would stop reselling Sprint's wireless service and switch to Verizon Wireless. As of the end of last year, Qwest contributed about 824,000 of Sprint's 53.8 million subscribers.

Analysts have disagreed whether the nation's third-largest wireless carrier is ripe for a takeover but have predicted it will begin selling parts of its operation to generate cash and make itself more agile.

Some analysts have speculated that Deutsche Telekom might consider buying Sprint to bulk up and prevent an escalation of flat-rate pricing in the industry.

But the two carriers' technologies are incompatible, a challenge Sprint has already seen enough of in the merger with Nextel.