The U.S. Justice Department approved the deal in July after the carriers agreed to sell some assets to satellite provider Dish Network Corp, which would create its own cellular network to ensure that there would still be four competitors in the market. The Federal Communications Commission signed off on the deal in October.
Throughout the trial, the states argued that Dish is not a suitable company to become a fourth wireless carrier because it has not been able to build a network using the wireless spectrum, or airwaves that carry data, it already owns. In a court filing on Friday, the Justice Department and FCC urged Marrero to rule against the states, saying that if the deal were blocked, rural areas of the United States would be slower to get access to 5G, the next generation of wireless.
Cool. So they can combine a become a bigger disaster of networks? That’s great.