Deutsche Telekom buys Austria's Telering

German operator Deutsche Telekom has agreed to acquire Austrian mobile phone operator Telering at a cost of 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion). The sale will narrow the gap between Telekom's subsidiary, T-Mobile Austria and market leader, Telekom Austria. The Telekom supervisory board agreed to the takeover plans last week already, but the sale could not go ahead without the endorsement of the Austrian telecommunications authorities and the European Commission. Head of T-Mobile International said the deal would provide T-Mobile Austria with an additional three million customers. In June, Telering ranked fourth on the Austrian cell phone market.