T-Mobile-Sprint review called 'cursory'

States suing to block T-Mobile US Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Sprint Corp. urged the federal judge overseeing the landmark antitrust trial not to defer to the Trump administration's approval of the $26.5 billion deal.

Lawyers for New York and California, which are leading the lawsuit for the states, said in a filing late Wednesday in Manhattan that the deal's approval by the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission doesn't carry any special weight and should be ignored by the judge.

"The federal government approved the merger with what appears to be only a cursory examination of the approval conditions," the states said, and the decision was "inconsistent" with its past opposition to consolidation in the wireless market.

The government had asked in a Dec. 20 filing that its approvals be given deference. The response comes as T-Mobile and the states are preparing for closing arguments in the lawsuit next week before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero. The closings will follow two weeks of testimony in December in which the states tried to show that the combination of the third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers would lead to higher prices.

The Justice Department's antitrust division and the FCC signed off on the merger after the companies agreed to sell assets to Dish Network Corp. to set up a new wireless competitor. That remedy is central to T-Mobile's argument to Marrero.

During the trial, the states showed that the head of the antitrust division, Makan Delrahim, took unusual steps to get the deal done, exchanging text messages with Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen.cq PS At one point during negotiations, Delrahim suggested Ergen ask his "Senator friends" to contact FCC Chairman Ajit Pai about the deal.

The states say the deal would give T-Mobile the power to raise prices.

T-Mobile and Sprint counter that the tie-up would actually lead to more competition.

Business on 01/10/2020

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