Deutsche Telekom said it had not been cutting jobs at its U.S. arm T-Mobile USA in anticipation of the unit's sale to AT&T, as reported by a German online magazine on Friday.

Focus Online, quoting a representative of the CWA union, reported that Deutsche Telekom had cut 2,600 jobs at T-Mobile USA call centers in the past few months ahead of the merger.

We have not carried out any measures to cut jobs ahead of the planned T-Mobile USA sale to AT&T, a Deutsche Telekom spokesman said late on Friday.

In the past 12 months the workforce has been reduced by 2,000 but that is in line with normal fluctuations. The U.S. unit employs 36,000 people at present.

Deutsche Telekom is awaiting regulatory approval for the sale of the ailing T-Mobile USA business to AT&T for $39 billion. It expects the sale will be sealed first quarter of 2012.

(Reporting by Peter Maushagen; editing by Keiron Henderson)

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