Today, the Justice Department officially announced that it is approving the $26.5 billion T-Mobile and Sprint’s merger following an agreement between the two carriers and Dish Network. This agreement is meant to position Dish as the fourth competitive carrier in the U.S., taking Sprint’s place. As part of the agreement, Dish will purchase prepaid businesses Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Sprint prepaid customers. In the agreement with the government, T-Mobile states they will not raise prices for three years and will cover 97% of the U.S. population with 5G service in three years. T-Mobile and Sprint still face an ongoing lawsuit from 13 state attorneys generals to block the deal on anti-competitive grounds. The merger cannot be finalized until after that case is resolved. The trial is set to begin on Oct. 7, but that date could be pushed back until Dec. 9.

// via Instagram Today, the Justice Department officially announced that it is approving the $26.5 billion T-Mobile and Sprint’s merger following an agreement between the two carriers and Dish Network. This agreement is meant to position Dish as the fourth competitive carrier in the U.S., taking Sprint’s place. As part of the agreement, Dish will purchase prepaid businesses Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Sprint prepaid customers. In the agreement with the government, T-Mobile states they will not raise prices for three years and will cover 97% of the U.S. population with 5G service in three years. T-Mobile and Sprint still face an ongoing lawsuit from 13 state attorneys generals to block the deal on anti-competitive grounds. The merger cannot be finalized until after that case is resolved. The trial is set to begin on Oct. 7, but that date could be pushed back until Dec. 9.