Deutsche Telekom Adds 87,000 Essen Households to Fiber Footprint as Bernstein Trims Its Rating

Deutsche Telekom acquires Essen fiber networks covering about 87,000 households, adds renewable power tariffs and keeps buying back shares.

Deutsche Telekom has struck an asset deal to acquire the fiber networks of ruhrfibre Essen and Metrofibre, giving the Bonn-based carrier access to infrastructure covering roughly 87,000 households in Essen. The agreement, announced Friday, fits a familiar pattern for the group: rather than relying solely on its own construction crews, management is bolting on regional networks to thicken its FTTH base.

The purchase landed alongside a broader push beyond pure connectivity. On Thursday, Deutsche Telekom rolled out three electricity tariffs sourced entirely from renewables through its own platform in partnership with power supplier Rabot Energy — a move aimed at deepening customer relationships and opening fresh revenue streams.

Buyback Keeps Rolling

Capital returns remain on schedule. Between September 21 and September 25, the company repurchased another 3,292,319 of its own shares. Since the program began on August 10, the cumulative tally has reached 17,298,084 shares, steadily shrinking the number of shares outstanding.

Network expansion is running in parallel. In August alone, the group added 222,000 fiber connections, bringing the total reach to 14.1 million households and businesses with access to speeds of up to 2,000 Mbit/s. During the same month, 115 new mobile sites went live and capacity was upgraded at 401 existing locations.

Bernstein Steps Back

Not everyone is cheering. Bernstein Research downgraded the stock on September 25 from "Outperform" to "Market-Perform," cutting its price target to 28.10 euros from 37 euros. The brokerage pointed to uncertainty over a potential full takeover of T-Mobile US and intensifying competition in the German broadband market. According to Bernstein's modeling, buying out the minority stake at a 20 percent premium could dilute Deutsche Telekom shareholders by roughly 11 percent.

The shares finished Friday up 1.9 percent at 26.59 euros, yet they remain 4.3 percent lower since the start of the year. The stock trades 5.1 percent below its 50-day moving average of 28.01 euros — a level it must reclaim before the broader picture shifts from cautious to constructive.

Berenberg's Nick Lyall takes the other side of the trade. On September 30 he kept a "Buy" rating and a 35.20 euro target, listing the stock among his top picks in European telecoms on the view that its structural recovery potential is still intact.

Partnerships and Programming

Deutsche Telekom continues to build out its non-network business. A strategic partnership with Cloudflare, announced Tuesday, targets security and connectivity solutions for European enterprise customers. Sports fans got their own news on September 25, when the company secured exclusive rights to the Basketball Champions League for the 2026/27 season.

On the enterprise technology front, the group unveiled an AI solution developed with partner caery that automates processes for health and long-term care insurers, delivered through the T Cloud Public.

What Hinges on the Next Prints

Two dates now anchor the investment case. On October 5, management hosts its AI Investor Day in Bonn, laying out how it intends to capture opportunities in artificial intelligence. The harder test comes on November 5, 2026, when third-quarter results for 2026 are due and the company must show how resilient margins in its core business really are.

Between now and then, the debate boils down to whether the domestic build-out can outrun price and margin pressure in German broadband, where challengers are fighting hard for market share. Each acquisition like Essen has to prove that buying existing networks creates value faster than drawn-out greenfield projects. If Deutsche Telekom can convert newly connected households into high-margin broadband contracts quickly, confidence in its long-term return on capital gets a lift. If not — or if worries about costly US dealmaking harden — the stock faces a fresh reckoning.