Deutsche Telekom (DT) CEO Tim Hoettges said that if the company finds a partner to improve T-Mobile US, in which the German operator has a 66 per cent stake, it will “obviously consider it” as it is “our duty to go on improving the return” from the US operation.

According to Reuters, Hoettges said T-Mobile US was performing better than it did two years ago but that there is room for further improvement. He was speaking at the company’s annual shareholders meeting.

Although DT’s net profit fell by 57 per cent in its Q1 2015 results, T-Mobile US reported strong customer additions and an increase of revenue in Q1, to the benefit of its parent.

“T-Mobile US continued on its course of strong growth, reporting the highest figures among the national US providers” with revenue increasing by 11.7 percent to $7.7 billion,” Deutsche Telekom said in a statement last week, adding that with 1.8 million net adds in the first quarter, its customer base was up by almost 7.8 million compared with the previous year.

In September last year, it was reported that DT wanted to sell its stake but might hold off — at least until the dust settled on US spectrum auctions and the regulatory mood shifted more positively.

Sprint was a potential buyer but objections by regulatory authorities meant the bid was dropped, and French operator Iliad too has shown interest in the past.

However, DT may be less inclined to sell now, following T-Mobile US’ revival.