Kai-Uwe Ricke has resigned from his position as chief executive of Deutsche Telekom, the German telecoms group said last night.

The resignation will be effective from today and Deutsche Telekom's supervisory board may decide on a successor today, the company said in a statement.

However, German media reports said yesterday that René Obermann, head of the company's successful mobile division, had already accepted the position to turn around a company that is losing 150,000 customers a month.

Mr Ricke's resignation after four years at Europe's largest telecoms company was forced on the Telekom supervisory board by private equity firm Blackstone, which holds 4.3 per cent of the company, and the German government, which directly and indirectly holds 32 per cent.

Blackstone has been calling for Mr Ricke's head since the summer when the group issued profit warnings for this year and next. Mr Ricke's turnaround plan of job cuts, new products and improved service has not stopped the flow of customers to competitors or the collapse in profits.

This latest development is another drama in a crisis-filled decade. The former monopoly was floated on November 18th, 1996, at €16.94 a share and rose as high as €104.90 before the Net bubble burst. The shares hit a record low of €8 in mid-2002.

Additional reporting: Reuters