Mega Mobile Merger: $26 billion Sprint and T-Mobile deal to be approved by Justice Department on Friday

The Justice Department is expected to approve a $26 billion deal between mobile carriers Sprint and T-Mobile on Friday.

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, head of the departments Antitrust Division, will announce a significant merger enforcement action on Friday, the Justice Department announced earlier today.

Reuters:

The expected approval, which would put the deal over a major hurdle, will come with conditions and a consent decree that will require the carriers to sell assets including the prepaid brand Boost Mobile to satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp, people briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Prepaid wireless phones are generally sought by lower-income people who cannot pass a credit check.

Dish will also get first rights to buy tower leases that T-Mobile decides are redundant following the deal, a source said.

T-Mobile, the third largest U.S. wireless carrier, pursued the deal in order to seek scale to compete with bigger rivals Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc.

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