T-Mobile US and Sprint have received approval from Federal Court in New York to go ahead with their $26 billion merger to create the New T-Mobile.
Based in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile US has 86 million customers. T-Mobile US is owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.
Sprint served 54.2 million connections as of December 31, 2019. Sprint is owned by SoftBank of Japan.
Recent media report said there will be some changes in the evaluation of Sprint in the wake of its recent financial performance.
The ruling clears one of the final hurdles for the deal, which can’t close until the California Public Utilities Commission approves the transaction.
Attorneys general from New York, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and D.C. originally brought the lawsuit to block the deal following approval from the Justice Department of Federal Communications Commission.
The states had argued that combining the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. carriers would limit competition and result in higher prices for consumers. The companies had argued their merger would help them compete against top players AT&T and Verizon and advance efforts to build a nationwide 5G network.
The Court stated that T-Mobile has redefined itself over the past decade as a maverick that has spurred the two largest players in its industry to make numerous pro-consumer changes. The proposed merger would allow the merged company to continue T-Mobile’s undeniably successful business strategy for the foreseeable future.”
“The New T-Mobile will be a supercharged Un-carrier that is great for consumers and great for competition. The broad and deep 5G network that only our combined companies will be able to bring to life is going to change wireless,” said John Legere, the outgoing CEO of T-Mobile.
“The T-Mobile-Sprint merger will close the digital divide and secure United States leadership in 5G. T-Mobile has committed to bringing 5G to 97 percent of our nation’s population within three years and 99 percent of Americans within six years,” Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said.
The ruling by Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejecting a lawsuit to block the T-Mobile-Sprint merger will be a blow on AT&T and Verizon.
