Here's your chance to tell a federal judge what you think about the T-Mobile-Sprint merger

With closing arguments set for this coming Wednesday in the trial that will determine the fate of the T-Mobile-Sprint merger, a federal judge says that he will accept comments from third-parties via an amicus curiae or friends of the court brief. Reuters reports that Judge Timothy Kelly, who will be assessing the Justice Department's approval of the merger, said that he would consider accepting such briefs for his review.
Dish Network CEO Ergen says that it will be ready to serve wireless consumes "from day one"
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To get around the DOJ's objections, Sprint last year entered into a deal with Dish Network. Once the T-Mobile-Sprint merger closes, the satellite television provider will pay $5 billion to Sprint for the latter's prepaid businesses and other assets. The unit includes 9.3 million customers and Boost Mobile. In preparation for the merger, this past week Sprint said that it is moving Virgin Mobile customers to Boost to form "one cohesive, efficient and effective prepaid team." The migration will begin the week of February 2nd and is designed to make it easier for Dish to acquire the unit.
As part of the deal with Sprint, Dish will take control over 14MHz of 800MHz spectrum (Dish already owns a decent amount of 600MHz low-band spectrum that it might lease to T-Mobile), 400 employees, and 7,500 retail locations. Dish will also sign a seven-year MVNO agreement with T-Mobile allowing it to sell wireless service under its name immediately while building a standalone 5G network. While testifying under oath during the trial, Dish Chairman Charles Ergen said that Dish will be ready to step in as a replacement for Sprint "on day one." Dish will need a deep-pocketed partner to help it build its 5G network. Companies like Google, Apple and Amazon have been rumored to be possible partners.
T-Mobile has made it clear that the merger is all about 5G. The company covets Sprint's mid-band 2.5GHz spectrum. Such airwaves are not easy for wireless operators to obtain in the U.S.; T-Mobile CEO John Legere pointed out that with the merger T-Mobile will have "triple the total 5G capacity of standalone T-Mobile and Sprint combined." he stated. On the other hand, Legere says that if the deal is blocked, in some markets T-Mobile will "exhaust capacity in the next two to four years."
Friends of the court briefs are submitted by third parties with an interest in the outcome of a case. U.S. consumers who subscribe to a major wireless provider could be considered to have an interest in how the court rules. After both sides present closing arguments on Wednesday, Judge Vincent Marrero is expected to make a ruling early in February.