US: T-Mobile-Sprint talks slow over Dish ownership – WSJ

Negotiations to complete the merger of T-Mobile US and Sprint are dragging on, as the parties haggle over ownership restrictions and other conditions for Dish Network once it gets assets from the wireless companies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, July 11.

Discussions are continuing, and all sides remain optimistic they can find common ground on the ownership question and other issues to complete T-Mobile’s acquisition of its smaller rival, the report stated citing people familiar with the matter.

T-Mobile and Sprint are planning to extend their merger agreement past its July 29 deadline, one of the people said. It would be the second such extension to close a deal that was announced more than a year ago and has run into resistance from federal and state antitrust officials.

The Justice Department has overseen several weeks of negotiations designed to ensure the merger of the third- and fourth-biggest cellphone carriers by subscribers won’t lessen competition. Dish—a satellite-TV provider with an ample stockpile of spectrum licenses—has emerged as the favorite to acquire divested assets from the merging companies to develop a new wireless network.