Judge could decide fate of T-Mobile-Sprint merger in weeks

Back on April 29, 2018, T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint's then-CEO Marcelo Claure announced the merger of the two wireless operators. Back then, would you have been surprised had we told you that the deal would still not be closed after the 2020 ball dropped in Times Square? When the deal was announced, the two biggest concerns were getting regulatory approval from the FCC and the Justice Department. But concessions made by T-Mobile and Sprint, including the promise to set up Dish Network as the "fourth nationwide facilities-based network competitor," allowed the transaction to get past both regulatory agencies.
Without the merger, T-Mobile's Legere says that the carrier could run out of capacity in some markets within 4 years
Axios reports today that both sides will make their closing arguments in front of the judge on January 15th. Judge Marrero will make a final ruling shortly afterward. The current iteration of the merger (as opposed to the one floated in 2014 that was quickly shot down by the FCC and DOJ) has always been about T-Mobile acquiring Sprint's hoard of mid-band 2.5GHz spectrum. Legere testified last month that with the merger T-Mobile will "triple the total 5G capacity of standalone T-Mobile and Sprint combined." If the deal is blocked, Legere says that in some markets T-Mobile will "exhaust capacity in the next two to four years."
Two initiatives announced by T-Mobile also depend on the carrier obtaining Sprint's 2.5GHz spectrum. Connecting Heroes provides first responders with free unlimited talk, text, and data with the highest priority on the T-Mobile network. And Project 10Million will bring internet service to the 15% of American households with children that cannot access the web because they live in a low-income household.
In addition, with Sprint's mid-band airwaves T-Mobile will be able to cover more rural Americans with 5G coverage and it will help the wireless provider enhance the quality of its recently launched nationwide 5G network. The next generation of wireless connectivity, 5G will deliver faster download data speeds and will help create new technologies and industries. Countries that are the first to deliver 5G to their citizens should be among the first to experience an economic boom from the faster data speeds.