NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has removed a major obstacle to T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion takeover of Sprint, as he rejected claims by a group of states that the deal would mean less competition and higher phone bills.
Though the deal still needs a few more approvals, T-Mobile expects to close it as early as April 1.
Once that happens, the number of major U.S. wireless companies would shrink from four to three. T-Mobile says the deal would benefit consumers as it becomes a fiercer competitor to the larger Verizon and AT&T.
The deal would also create a new, but smaller competitor as satellite TV company Dish pledges to build a next-generation, 5G cellular network.
But a group of state attorneys general tried to block the deal, arguing that having one fewer phone company would cost Americans billions of dollars in higher bills. Consumer Reports said the three remaining carriers would have fewer incentives to compete on prices and quality.
Judge Victor Marrero said Tuesday that most antitrust litigation ends in a “competing crystal balls” that “shed little light on a clear path to resolving the dispute.”
Ultimately, Marrero said he wasn’t convinced the deal would lead to higher prices or lower quality for the wireless industry, as the states insist. He also said he found that T-Mobile executives were credible at trial in promising to continue competing aggressively with AT&T and Verizon.
The judge said the states are right that both Sprint and T-Mobile will provide 5G service without the combination, but the standalone companies’ 5G networks would be more limited in their scope and take longer to build.
Marrero’s decision comes after the Justice Department already approved the deal. As part of a settlement with the Justice Department, T-Mobile agreed to help create a competitor in Dish. Another judge still needs to approve that settlement, a process that is usually straightforward but has taken longer than expected. A utility board in California also has to approve the deal.
