Illinois became the 16th state to join a lawsuit to block the proposed Sprint Corp./T-Mobile US Inc. merger, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced in a Sept. 3 news release.
"With Illinois' addition to our lawsuit, more than half the U.S. population is now represented by states that are suing to block the anticompetitive megamerger of T-Mobile and Sprint," said James in a statement.
The lawsuit, which was originally filed in federal court in New York in June by the attorneys general in nine states and the District of Columbia, alleges that the proposed deal would hamper competition and result in higher prices for services.
The trial is set to begin Dec. 9.
At the federal level, Ajit Pai, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has formally recommended the approval of the deal, and the U.S. Department of Justice conditionally approved the deal July 26.
Pai announced support for the deal in May after receiving a set of commitments from the wireless companies around the deployment of next-generation 5G service, as well as a pledge to divest Sprint's Boost Mobile prepaid brand.
"After one of the most exhaustive merger reviews in Commission history, the evidence conclusively demonstrates that this transaction will bring fast 5G wireless service to many more Americans and help close the digital divide in rural areas," Pai said in an Aug. 14 statement. "Moreover, with the conditions included in this draft Order, the merger will promote robust competition in mobile broadband, put critical mid-band spectrum to use, and bring new competition to the fixed broadband market."
The California Public Utilities Commission, which is determining whether to approve the deal within California, has not yet made a determination on a pending application to the commission.
