It looks like the Sprint-T-Mobile merger is about to clear the last of any potential legal hurdles. According to a new report from the New York Times, the judge presiding over the case between the two companies and a coalition of state’s attorneys is expected to rule in favor of Sprint and T-Mobile.
The suit was first filed in June by a group of attorney generals from 13 states and the District of Columbia. It first arose after federal regulators, including the Department of Justice, gave the deal the go-ahead. Once the deal goes through, the third and fourth-largest carriers will combine to form the “New T-Mobile.” The new company will reportedly have more than 100 million customers.
State’s attorneys argued that the combination of the two companies would reduce competition in the telecommunications industry — an industry that’s already relatively low on competition. Even less competition could result in higher phone bills, they argued.
Sprint and T-Mobile, on the other hand, claimed that the combination of the two will allow them to better take on the likes of Verizon and AT&T, which are the largest and second-largest carriers in the U.S., respectively. Not only that, but the companies maintain that they’ll be better positioned to roll out next-generation 5G networks as a combined entity.
Final arguments for the lawsuit took place in January, and the decision is expected to be announced on Tuesday, according to the New York Times’ sources. None of the parties have reportedly read the ruling — leaving the door open for possible conditions or restrictions to be added.
It has been a long road to the merger for the two companies. The merger was first announced in June 2018. At the time, T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeted a graphic detailing the ownership of the new company — with Deutche Telekom set to own 41.7 percent of the new T-Mobile and Softbank to own 27.4 percent. The remaining 31 percent will be publicly owned. At the time, it was said that Legere would serve as the new company’s CEO — however Legere has since announced that he’ll be stepping down as T-Mobile CEO in April when his current contract expires.
We’ve reached out to T-Mobile and Sprint for comment, and will update this article when we hear back.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.