T-Mobile, Sprint merger OK'd, creating No. 3 wireless carrier

• The Department of Justice on Friday approved T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion merger with Sprint to make a Top 3 competitor in the mobile phone business that approaches the size of market leaders Verizon and AT&T. 
• One big condition: The two wireless providers will have to divest enough assets to make Dish a new wireless competitor, too.
• Dish will have access to T-Mobile’s network for seven years, while it builds out its own system.

The Department of Justice on Friday said it approved T-Mobile’s $26.5 billion merger with Sprint, after the telecommunications companies agreed to divest enough telecom assets to allow TV provider Dish to become a wireless competitor. 

The combined T-Mobile and Sprint would become a Top 3 competitor in the mobile phone business, approaching the massive scale of longtime market leaders Verizon and AT&T. 

T-Mobile and Sprint will divest Sprint’s prepaid cellular business, which includes Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Sprint prepaid, to Dish Network Corp., making the Colorado-based satellite television provider a major wireless competitor. T-Mobile and Sprint must also share at least 20,000 cell sites and hundreds of retail locations with Dish, per the terms of the proposed settlement. 

Dish will have access to T-Mobile’s network for seven years, while it builds out its own 5G network.

T-Mobile, Sprint merger: What it means for you

The TV provider will provide real competition immediately, per the terms of the deal. “Dish will have 9 or 10 million customers from the beginning,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim. “This will not be a startup.”

The merger — and accompanying divestiture — will transform currently unused airwaves into high-quality 5G networks for American consumers. 

Delrahim said at a press conference Friday that he expects consumers will be able to more affordably access wireless service. “Our job was to preserve competition and I wouldn’t be surprised if you had lower prices,” he said.

In 2018, T-Mobile posted revenues of more than $43 billion. Sprint posted revenues of over $32 billion for the same year. 

The Justice Department’s settlement must now be approved by a federal judge. 

— CBS News’ Jeff Pegues contributed to this report.