Deutsche Telekom has confirmed that it will be forced to delay the share sale of its mobile phone unit T-Mobile as a result of its recent purchase of VoiceStream Wireless in the US.

Last month, the German telecoms company, which is still majority-controlled by the German government, bought mobile group VoiceStream for £37bn (€60bn), a price that many analysts believe overvalued the US company. For the acquisition to close it will be forced to clear regulatory and political obstacles that could delay the completion until 2001.