Deutsche Telekom says U.S. listing helps it "attack" rivals: paper

Deutsche Telekom has given its U.S. operations more autonomy, positioning its business to compete better with bigger and smaller rivals, Chief Executive Rene Obermann told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

In an effort to turnaround its U.S. business, which has lost customers to AT&T and Verizon , the German telecoms provider floated its operations there after merging its T-Mobile USA unit with MetroPCS Communications.

"We are once again on the attack and are winning customers. Anything else is speculation," Obermann said in response to a question about whether it is planning to exit the United States.

In a joint interview, Timotheus Hoettges, who is designated to succeed Obermann as Chief Executive told the paper that a separate listing of T-Mobile US Inc has given the fourth-largest U.S. wireless service provider "a chance to win."

Deutsche Telekom has been struggling since 2011 to find a better path for T-Mobile US after abandoning a sale of the company to No. 2 U.S. mobile provider AT&T for $39 billion because of opposition from regulators.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Louise Heavens)