Federal judge rules in favor of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger

A federal judge has just ruled in favor of the $26 billion T-Mobile and Sprint merger.

The Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission last year gave the green light to this merger of the third and fourth largest wireless carriers in the U.S., but it faced a lawsuit from state attorneys general. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) last year called the merger "exactly the sort of consumer-harming, job-killing mega merger our antitrust laws were designed to prevent."

On Tuesday, though, U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero ruled in favor of T-Mobile and Sprint, in his decision saying the merger isn't likely to "substantially lessen competition," The Washington Post reports.

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As part of the deal, T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to sell off certain assets to Dish so that it could become a fourth major wireless carrier, The New York Times notes. T-Mobile also needs to provide Dish with access to its network for seven years. Marrero on Tuesday said that "Dish as a new entrant will constitute a substantial incentive to competition," per The Verge.

CNBC notes that now, the California Public Utilities Commission will still need to approve the merger. But the decision looks set to, as The Wall Street Journal writes, "usher in a new balance of power in the U.S. wireless market."