AT&T's Stephenson Says Open to European Acquisitions

AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson signaled anew his interest in possible acquisitions in Europe, saying the telecommunications company would welcome significant deals at the right price.

"If there were opportunities that presented a good value, of course we would do it," he said. Stephenson emphasized that US regulators are unlikely to tolerate more wireless consolidation, limiting AT&T's options at home. "We have pretty much written off that any kind of large-scale deal in our sector is going to get done," he said, referring to the US. AT&T sees room to move the European market in the direction of the US by investing in networks, shifting pricing strategies to encourage mobile data use and collecting more revenue as use increases. At the same time, heavy competition, declining revenue and the regulatory environment pose risks. The European mobile industry considers consolidation as being overdue.