"We're not under any time pressure. But a solution should be found as quickly as possible so as not to engender uncertainty for customers and employees," Pauly told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"But you won't get any concrete timetable out of me at the moment."

In particular, Deutsche Telekom is looking for a partner for T-Systems' enterprise services division, which provides IT services to big multi-national companies and public sector clients.

The business accounts for two thirds of T-Systems' total annual sales of 12.6 billion euros (17 billion dollars) and its 55,000-strong workforce.

Pauly insisted that a straightforward sale of the business "is not an option," but Deutsche Telekom would not insist on maintaining a majority stake.

"That's not been decided yet," he said. "We don't want to restrict our choices in our search for a partner by insisting on a majority stake. But it is important for us that we maintain a significant stake in the new company," Pauly said.

In the past, French groups Atos Origin and CapGemini and US-based EDS have all been mooted as possible partners for T-Systems.

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