T-Mobile, Sprint complete merger

T-Mobile announced Wednesday that its merger with Sprint has been completed, wrapping up a multiyear process rife with legal challenges.

As part of the $26 billion merger, longtime T-Mobile CEO John Legere will step down and be replaced by Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s president.

“During this extraordinary time, it has become abundantly clear how vital a strong and reliable network is to the world we live in,” Sievert said in a statement.

“The New T-Mobile’s commitment to delivering a transformative broad and deep nationwide 5G network is more important and more needed than ever and what we are building is mission-critical for consumers,” he continued.

The new company will retain the name T-Mobile, and Legere will continue to serve on the board.

The final hurdle to merge the country’s third- and fourth-largest wireless providers was cleared in February when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from 15 state attorneys general (AGs) seeking to block the merger.

Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, a Clinton appointee, wrote in February that the proposed merger between two of the four major telecom companies in the U.S. is not “reasonably likely to substantially lessen competition,” striking down the states’ central argument.

The AGs had argued that the deal would be illegal and harmful to consumers.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) last month announced he would not appeal the decision, formally ending the legal challenge.

As part of a settlement with the state, T-Mobile agreed to offer services to millions of low-income Californians and create thousands of new in-state jobs.

As part of the agreement to get approval from the Department of Justice, the new combined wireless company — which will trade as TMUS — will sell off assets to Dish Network.

The government hopes that Dish will turn into another nationwide provider, alleviating monopolization concerns from the merger.

The new T-Mobile will boast a regular monthly subscriber base of about 80 million, putting it in direct competition with longtime competitors Verizon and AT&T. The nation’s two largest providers each have more than 150 million monthly subscribers.

—Updated at 11:57 a.m.