* Sees 18 bln euros 2012 adj EBITDA, free cash flow of 6 bln
* Q4 net loss of 1.3 bln euros vs 1 bln profit expected
* 3.3 bln euro impairment charge for U.S. and Greece
* Keeps dividend unchanged at 0.70 eur/shr
* Shares down 2.8 pct, underperforming sector (Adds details on T-Mobile USA)
FRANKFURT, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (Xetra: 555750 - news) warned that its profit would fall again this year as its businesses in Greece and the United States continue to struggle after causing a shock bottom-line loss in the fourth quarter.
The Bonn-based group said it expects 2012 underlying earnings excluding special items to ease to around 18 billion euros ($23.8 billion) from 18.7 billion last year.
That is below the 18.4 billion euros average for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in a Reuters poll of banks and brokerages.
BernsteinResearch analyst Robin Bienenstock said the 2012 outlook showed the company is facing a tough year.
Deutsche Telekom posted a fourth-quarter net loss that widened to 1.3 billion euros from 514 million in the same quarter last year, missing by a wide margin consensus for a profit of 1 billion euros.
Tough markets in the United States and Greece forced Deutsche Telekom to write down the value of its units there -- T-Mobile USA and OTE (Dusseldorf: 449134.DU - news) -- by a total of 3.3 billion euros in the quarter.
Greek OTE, of which Deutsche Telekom owns 40 percent, earlier on Thursday posted an unexpected fourth-quarter loss and said it planned to pay no dividend this year.
Deutsche Telekom's group core operating profit, though, rose 1.3 percent to 4.6 billion euros, in line with consensus, as the company cut costs. Revenue eased 3.7 percent to 14.9 billion.
By 1244 GMT, shares in Deutsche Telekom were down 2.8 percent at 8.71 euros, making it one of the biggest decliners in the STOXX Europe 600 Telecommunications index, which was off 0.5 percent.
U.S. INVESTMENT AHEAD
One big headache for the company is T-Mobile USA, a rundown asset that had been a strong growth engine for Deutsche Telekom in its early days.
DT tried to sell the U.S. business to AT&T (NYSE: T - news) for $39 billion, but fierce regulatory opposition scuppered the deal, leaving Deutsche Telekom with a $6 billion breakup package.
In the nine months during which the companies sought regulatory approval for the deal, T-Mobile USA's business suffered hugely. It lost 706,000 contract customers in the fourth quarter, which an analyst described as "ugly".
In comparison to No. 4 ranked T-Mobile USA, bigger rivals Verizon Wireless , AT&T and Sprint all added customers in the quarter, helped by the Apple Inc (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) iPhone. These rivals are already at various stages of upgrading their networks for high-speed wireless services based on a technology known as Long Term Evolution.
Deutsche Telekom said that over the next two years it would increase its network investments in T-Mobile USA by about $1.4 billion. Over time T-Mobile USA said it would spend a total of $4 billion on the LTE upgrade.
"Over the medium term, T-Mobile USA wants to return to rising subscriber numbers and earnings growth," Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Rene Obermann said, adding that it had no other choice for the unit after the AT&T deal fell apart.
Deutsche Telekom said it will launch a new LTE service in 2013 promising connection speeds many times faster than current networks to cater to growing demand for wireless data use.
Its (Euronext: ALITS.NX - news) bigger rivals have promised to have much of the country blanketed with LTE services by the end of 2013
In an effort to improve customer growth, T-Mobile USA said it is still trying to find wholesale customers, a plan it first announced in January this year.
As part of the breakup package from AT&T, Deutsche Telekom received $3 billion in cash as well as mobile spectrum, which it said it would use to offer data services.
There has been speculation that Deutsche Telekom could now exit Everything Everywhere, Britain's biggest mobile operator, which it owns jointly with France Telecom (Paris: FR0000133308 - news) , but the German company remained mum on the issue on Thursday.
Deutsche Telekom also said it would stick with its promise to provide investors with a dividend of 0.70 euros per share. It had committed to a three-year dividend policy through 2012, promising a dividend of at least 0.70 euros per share.
In comparison, France Telecom on Wednesday cut its dividends and put off a promised share buyback. Spain's Telefonica (Other OTC: TEFOF.PK - news) trimmed dividends in December and is focusing on paying down debt, while Dutch operator KPN (Amsterdam: KPN.AS - news) slashed its returns to shareholders via buybacks.
Telekom Austria (Hamburg: TA1.HM - news) on Thursday forecast flat 2012 sales and core profit which may nearly match 2011 levels that met market expectations. ($1=0.7552 euros) (Additional reporting by Nicola Leske and Sinead Carew in New York, Editing by Mike Nesbit and Mark Porter)
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