Risks and opportunities This section provides important additional information and explains recent changes in the risks and opportunities as described in the combined management report of the 2019 Annual Report. Readers are also referred to the Disclaimer at the end of this report. The coronavirus pandemic has developed into a global economic crisis. Higher demand for certain telecommunications services means the impact of the crisis is likely to be felt less severely by the telecommunications industry than by other industries. Nevertheless, there is currently a great deal of uncertainty regarding the extent to which business activities and thus the results of operations and financial position of Deutsche Telekom could be affected overall. For example, roaming and visitor volumes are declining as a result of government-imposed international travel restrictions, and terminal equipment sales and new contracts may decrease due to the largely temporary closure of shops. Corporate customer business may decline, for example, due to delayed or changed customer decisions. The possibility of an increase in the number of consumers and business customers defaulting on their payments cannot be ruled out either. Deutsche Telekom has put in place cost saving measures to mitigate potential effects on earnings. The coronavirus pandemic exposes us to economic business risks in our Germany, Europe, and United States operating segments: The risk significance in these three segments has been downrated from “low” to “medium.” The business combination of T‑Mobile US and Sprint was consummated on April 1, 2020. Implementing the business combination poses complex challenges for T‑Mobile US, which must be successfully overcome in order to realize the predicted synergies and to meet the conditions imposed by the authorities. The combination of the two companies to form the new T‑Mobile US affects all operational areas; for instance, the integration of the mobile networks and the IT and technology environments, customer management, sales, HR management, logistics, and the control environment. At the same time, it will be necessary to fulfill multiple conditions, including those agreed with the antitrust and regulatory authorities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), the supervisory authorities in various U.S. states, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). If we do not successfully rise to these integration challenges and fulfill the agreed conditions, this can affect the results of operations, financial position, brand/reputation, earnings, and creditworthiness of T‑Mobile US with ramifications for the Deutsche Telekom Group. Assessment of the aggregate risk position At the time of preparing this report, neither our risk management system nor our management could identify any material risks to the continued existence of Deutsche Telekom AG or a significant Group company as a going concern. schließen Roaming Refers to the use of a communication device or just a subscriber identity in a visited network rather than one’s home network. This requires the operators of both networks to have reached a roaming agreement and switched the necessary signaling and data connections between their networks. Roaming comes into play when cell phones and smartphones are used across national boundaries.
