Germany's Deutsche Telekom is spending $2.5bn(�1.39bn) on two US mobile phone networks to fill gaps in its coverage. The purchase will mean its T-Mobile USA subsidiary can offer better service in California and Nevada, important markets in the west of the country.
The networks are a joint venture with Cingular, which is buying AT&T Wireless and no longer needs them.
T-Mobile, on the other hand, badly needs the additional capacity to cope with its growing customer base.
Complex deal
T-Mobile and Cingular - founded by telecoms giants SBC and Bellsouth in 2001 - originally clubbed together to speed their entry into areas where they had no coverage.
Analysts said the price was far from a bargain.
But they added that T-Mobile had little choice, since it needed control over its access to the two lucrative markets.
But the complex deal means the headline price tag does not include possible benefits to T-Mobile further down the line.
Although T-Mobile is paying $2.5bn, it gets back a $200m one-off payment as part of the disentangling of the joint venture.
Network capacity deals mean more back-and-forth financial exchanges in the future.
T-Mobile is paying Cingular $180m for capacity in California, while Cingular in turn has agreed to spend $1.2bn capacity in return over the next four years.
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