T-Mobile US Inc. is just moments away from getting the nod of the judges for its $26.5 billion acquisition of rival Sprint Corp., sources with knowledge of the matter disclosed Monday.
United States District Court Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan is expected to hand over the court's verdict as early as Tuesday, quashing a government-led lawsuit that aims to prevent the industry-shaking merger of the two wireless giants.
According to the sources, the judge's office has notified both companies early Monday that he was ruling in favor of the deal -- a decision that is a huge victory for T-Mobile and its owner Deutsche Telekom AG, including SoftBank Group Corp Sprint's mother company.
The merger, which will function under the T-Mobile name, expects to generate around 80 million regular subscribers per month, making the combination at par with competitor AT&T Inc., which currently has 75 million subscribers, and Verizon Communications Inc., with 114 million.
Shares of Sprint, the third-biggest US wireless company, rallied over 60 percent in after hours session Monday after a Wall Street Journal story disclosed a US District judge is expected to rule in favor o T-Mobile. In extended trading, T-Mobile stock rose more than 8 percent.
Many viewed the deal as a bellwether for the US wireless industry's future. The carriers argued that the country's merger of No. 3 and No. 4 wireless companies would speed up the timeframe for 5G technology.
The telecom firms argued that the wireless industry had ample competition, referring to Dish, Comcast and other satellite and cable entities providing or intending to launch their own cellular subscription plans.
Fourteen attorney generals, led by California and New York, had blocked the merger, arguing that merging the two firms would dramatically slash down competition and elevate prices.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile will have more spectrums after the merger - the frequencies through which cellular signals are transmitted - compared to any other carrier.
Its greater capacity will provide a benefit for the combined company as the industry moves to the next level of wireless technology, the much faster 5G networks.
The win in court came almost two years after the first declaration of the contract. The complaint by the states was the last major hurdle to the agreement after it received regulators' approval in the antitrust division of the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department.
Sprint is the only American wireless provider to currently offer 5G on what is known as mid-band spectrum. This frequency that allows for faster data transmissions compared to the low-band 5G network T-Mobile was activated for 200 subscribers on Friday.
