On Friday, the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission filed in court to support a merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers.
A group of state attorneys general has asked a judge to stop the $26 billion deal, saying it would lead to higher prices for customers. The case is being heard in federal court in New York and could wrap up on Friday.
In their filing, the Justice Department and FCC argued that if the states, led by New York and California, succeed in killing the deal the end result will be that rural areas of the United States will be slower to get access to 5G, the next generation of wireless…
The Justice Department approved the merger in July after the carriers agreed to sell some assets to satellite provider Dish. The FCC formally approved the merger in October.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote in July: “Dish Network could make Sprint look even more like a meek little lamb and be a far more formidable competitor, which is great news for U.S. cellular customers who stand to benefit from increased competition among carriers.”
