Four states including Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Nevada joined a lawsuit to stop the proposed merger of Sprint Corporation (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile US (NASDAQ: TMUS).
During a hearing at a federal court in Manhattan on Friday, Beau Buffier, the legal counsel for the New York State Attorney General’s office informed a judge that the four states were added to an amended version of the complaint, according to the Associated Press.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New York Attorney General Letitia James are leading the multi-state lawsuit to stop the Sprint/T-Mobile merger.
In the legal complaint, filed ten days ago, the states argued that the Sprint/T-Mobile merger will reduce competition. It will be harmful to consumers particularly prepaid or low-income subscribers.
The telecommunications companies explained that the merger is necessary for them to establish a competitive, fast, powerful and reliable 5G wireless network nationwide.
T-Mobile lawyer argues the merger will improve competition
On Friday, T-Mobile’s legal counsel George Cary told the judge during the hearing that the merger will boost competition, He emphasized that combining Sprint and T-Mobile increases their competitiveness against their bigger rivals, AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ).