A Sprint – T-Mobile merger was approved by a New York court Feb. 11, and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said it was “welcome news for Kansas.”
Schmidt said in a statement that competition should increase in the state and that quality coverage should expand in many rural areas in Kansas.
In addition, he expected the merger to expedite the development of 5G technology in Kansas, while protecting and expanding Kansas jobs, according to the statement.
“We intend to hold the merged company to its promises of investment in its Kansas network and of maintaining substantial employment at what will become the combined company’s ‘second headquarters’ in Overland Park,” Schmidt noted in his statement.
On July 26, Schmidt joined Kansas with the U.S. Department of Justice and four other states in a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia formally approving the merger subject to certain conditions designed to main competition and enhance technology deployment.
The company also provided assurances it would remain a major employer in Kansas with its second headquarters in Overland Park. The attorney general’s office handled this matter for Kansas because it enforces both federal and state antitrust laws, according to Schmidt’s news release.
After that approval, a group of other states led by New York filed a lawsuit in federal district court in New York arguing the merger violated antitrust law and seeking to block it. Today’s judicial ruling rejected New York’s arguments, clearing the path for the merger to proceed.