Sprint and T-Mobile are about to join forces.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that it had approved the proposed $26 billion merger between Sprint and T-Mobile, albeit with major concessions, and a lawsuit from 13 state attorneys general still pending.
Per the agreement, Sprint will be forced to divest itself of several prepaid brans, including Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile. Spring and T-Mibile will also hand over some of their wireless spectrum over to Dish Network, along with 20,000 or more cell sites and hundreds of stores.
In return, Dish will have access to T-Mobile’s network for seven years as it builds up its 5G infrastructure.
The merger can’t be finalized however until a lawsuit from 13 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia is concluded. A trial date is set for Oct. 7, though that date could be pushed as late as Dec. 9.
Finally, Dish is paying $1.4 billion to claim Sprint’s prepaid operations, and $3.6 billion for wireless spectrum.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and doj.gov