Texas Says No to T-Mobile's Merger With Sprint

Texas has joined more than a dozen states that are suing to stop T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion takeover of rival cellphone company Sprint, arguing that the deal is bad for consumers because it would reduce competition.

Texas’ attorney general is the first Republican of the group, which now consists of 14 states and the District of Columbia. California, New York, and now Texas are leading the states’ case.

The Justice Department approved the deal last week alongside five Republican state attorneys general who were not involved in the states’ case. The federal government’s conditions would make satellite-TV company Dish a new U.S. wireless provider.

Critics worry that the deal would still lead to higher prices and fewer consumer perks because Dish would be a weaker competitor than Sprint currently is. Dish has to build out its network and will start life with only 9 million customers, about one-sixth of Sprint’s subscriber base today.

On Thursday, a federal judge set a December trial date for the states’ case.

T-Mobile has said it will not finalize the Sprint takeover while litigation is ongoing. T-Mobile was expecting to close the deal by the end of the year. CEO John Legere said last week that he wants to work with the states to address their concerns.