T-Mobile: Texas drops lawsuit against merger

The state of Texas does not want to continue to complain against the multi-billion dollar merger of Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile US with its competitor Sprint. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced an agreement to ban companies from, among other things, five-year price increases and comprehensive commitments to expand their network.

The alliance of states complaining about the merger of the third and fourth largest US mobile operator is losing one of its key supporters with Texas. Previously, Colorado and Mississippi had dropped their complaints.

However, the alliance continues to have a dozen states, including New York and California. The opponents fear that the merger could restrict competition and lead to disadvantages for consumers and employees. Despite these concerns, the Justice Department issued the go-ahead in July.

The merger, which was agreed at the end of April 2018, was controversial right from the beginning, and the companies had canceled their plans twice before. According to previous company data, the merged mobile service provider would have about 127 million customers and a combined annual turnover of more than $ 70 billion.

As long as the state battle continues, T-Mobile and Sprint will not complete the $ 26 billion acquisition. The trial is scheduled to start in New York in December.