Deutsche Telekom is set to name the head of its mobile phone arm as new group chief executive today and sign off on the biggest corporate loss in German history.
T-Mobile chief Mr Kai-Uwe Ricke has secured the crucial union vote to back his appointment as chief executive of Europe's biggest telecoms operator, a union source said.
His primary task will be to find ways of cutting the group's debt to €50 billion from €64 billion by the end of next year.
In a decision widely seen as connected to Mr Ricke's appointment, Deutsche Telekom has shelved the idea of an outright sale of its US mobile unit but could still merge it with a rival, a spokesman said.