US District Court rejects lawsuit trying to block T-Mobile-Sprint merger

A U.S. District Court has rejected a lawsuit trying to block the T-Mobile-Sprint merger and to clear the way for the wireless providers to merge.

The Federal Communications Commission in a statement said it was "pleased with the district court's decision." by Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

You'd be forgiven if you forgot the details of the T-Mobile-Sprint deal. In a nutshell, T-Mobile got the approval from the FCC to acquire Sprint for $26 million in October 2019. The US Department of Justice approved the merger in July on condition that it sell key assets to Dish Networks. T-Mobile's plan to acquire Sprint was outlined in 2018 after years of on-and-off talks.

In the meantime, T-Mobile has continued to add net subscribers and Sprint has weakened. The theory is that the combination of T-Mobile and Sprint will provide a stronger No. 3 wireless competitor to AT&T and Verizon as 5G rolls out.

Now the real work of integration will begin. Wedbush tech strategist Brad Gastwirth said:

This decision should clear up uncertainty around both companies' futures allowing them to move forward with capital spending and integration plans including the divestiture of certain assets. Generally, we see this decision as positive for AT&T and Verizon as the shift from four to three providers should yield a more stable competitive environment, with some room for share gains as T-Mobile and Sprint work through the integration of the two companies.