Deutsche Telekom said that shareholders in MetroPCS had agreed the proposed merger of the business with T-Mobile USA, clearing the path for “a new, combined, larger and more powerful mobile services provider in the USA”.

According to the statement, all the necessary approvals required are now in place, and the transaction is expected to close on 1 May 2013.

“The merger with MetroPCS is extremely important, since it enables us to be more aggressive in the USA,” Rene Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, said.

The transaction had seen some opposition from MetroPCS shareholders, although this was addressed through changes to the proposal made earlier this month.

Shareholders of MetroPCS are set to receive a cash payment of $1.5 billion, and will own 26 per cent of the newly combined company. The remaining 74 per cent will be owned by the Germany-based operator group.

Separately, MetroPCS released its first quarter 2013 results yesterday, noting that net profit fell by 8 per cent to $19 million, on revenue which increased by 1 per cent to $1.29 billion.

It said that during the period, it incurred $4 million in expenses connected to the T-Mobile deal.

The company ended the period with 9 million subscribers, a 5 per cent drop year-on-year. It also had 3.5 million LTE users, representing around 39 per cent of its total, having gained 1.2 million during the three months.