Sprint’s and T-Mobile’s planned merger now approved, could be finalized in April

T-Mobile has been trying to merge with Sprint for quite some time, with some years going better than others. But now the two wireless carriers are closer than ever before.

And it may actually get approved. United States federal judge Victor Marrero has officially approved the planned merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, starting with the acquisition of Sprint by T-Mobile for $26 million. If the merger is finalized, which it is expected to be, then it will create a third-largest wireless carrier in the United States, with Verizon and AT&T still holding the two top spots.

This is all moving right along. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially approved the merger between the wireless carriers back in November of 2019. However, following that decision a group of state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit aiming to stop the merger. The state AG’s argued the same thing many others were: that removing a wireless carrier option was not great for the public, and would reduce overall competition.

Federal judge Marrero, however, does not see it that way, and leverages that decision based on T-Mobile’s “Un-carrier” events and initiatives, which the judge sees as spurring the other big carriers to respond to the smaller carrier’s moves. And, indeed, T-Mobile has big plans waiting in the wings when this merger is approved. The carrier’s “5G for Good” initiative is built around providing things like closing the “homework gap” by providing internet access to those who need it, providing free 5G service to first responders, and more.

But those “5G for Good” initiatives will only go into effect if the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is finalized. And that could happen in April of this year.

What do you think? Should this merger get finalized?