U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in the Southern District of New York is expected to approve the merger between T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp., allowing the wireless rivals to overcome a state antitrust concern and giving the new T-Mobile more than 90 million customers in the United States, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Marrero's decision is expected to be made public on Tuesday, reports The Wall Street Journal, and comes after attorneys general from several states argued in a lawsuit the merger could bring higher cell phone bills.
The WSJ sources said all parties have been notified that a ruling was imminent, but is not clear if the plan requires any additional concessions other than have already been made.,
Two years ago, the companies agreed to merge through an all-stock deal valued at $26 billion. Approval from federal antitrust and telecommunications officials was reached after the wireless giants agreed to concessions, and the new T-Mobile will join AT&T and Verizon to dominate the country's wireless market.
The attorneys general coalition, led by New York and California, can still appeal the judge's decision, after initially suing on the grounds that Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission failed consumers by approving the merger after the companies agreed to concessions.
If Marrero agrees, T-Mobile and Sprint will combine airwaves, network infrastructure, stores, and workforce, and some of Sprint's prepaid accounts will be sold to Dish Network, which plans to build a new carrier.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile has promised customers that the new, company will feature either the same or better rate plans over the three years after the merger takes place.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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