Comcast flagged as new leading contender to buy out T-Mobile US

Deutsche Telekom now considers Comcast the leading candidate for a sale of T-Mobile U.S., reports said on Wednesday, potentially signalling a major shift in the American media landscape that could impact Apple.

Deutsche Telekom is still in talks with several companies, Reuters quoted Germany's Manager Magazin as saying, the latter citing multiple sources. Comcast however is thought to be strongest contender, since it would have the financial resources to buy out all of T-Mobile U.S.'s shares.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Dish Network was exploring a T-Mobile merger, and that the companies were largely in sync about what a combined entity might look like, even if important issues such as price and stock percentages were up in the air. Dish is still in the running, according to Manager.

If Comcast were to successfully acquire T-Mobile, it would be adding phone service and sales to an already giant media conglomerate, spanning cable and Internet services as well as movies, TV networks, and theme parks. Too much market control could be a reason why U.S. regulators might block the deal, as they did when Comcast tried to buy Time Warner Cable in a deal worth $45 billion. Charter is now making its own TWC bid.

Dish operates Sling TV, a streaming TV service that could pose a threat to a rumored Apple service still in development. Comcast has no direct equivalent of Sling, but owns networks Apple will have to negotiate with for content.

Either Comcast or Dish could conceivably give T-Mobile subscribers cheap access to mobile TV as a way of bypassing Apple. Apple has been encountering stiff resistance from content providers, which may be one reason its service was not announced at WWDC on June 8.