T-Mobile and Sprint's merger is facing a lawsuit from a group of state attorneys general who want to block the deal, saying it will harm competition and raise prices. We've seen several states join this lawsuit over the past few months, but in the past week, there have been a couple states that decided to flip after striking deals with T-Mo.
Colorado today announced that it has left the lawsuit against the T-Mobile-Sprint merger after reaching agreements with Dish Network and T-Mobile. These deals are separate and are focused on jobs, 5G, and rate plan prices.
The agreement with Dish states that the company will locate and maintain its headquarters at its Riverfront facility in Littleton, CO. Dish has also committed to employing at least 2,000 full-time employees who will focus primarily on wireless at facilities in Littleton and Englewood, CO. Finally, Dish says it will make Colorado one of the first 10 states where it launches 5G service by 2023. If Dish fails to meet these commitments, it will face penalties of up to $20 million.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile has made commitments such as deploying 5G coverage that covers at least 68 percent of the Colorado population with download speeds of at least 100Mbps within three years of the merger's close. T-Mo must also cover at least 60 percent of Colorado's rural population with 5G speeds of 100Mbps or higher within three years of the merger's closing. And for at least five years following the merger's closing, T-Mobile must offer new low-priced plans to all consumers in Colorado, including an unlimited talk and text plan with 2GB of data for $15 or less per month and a plan with 5GB of data for $25 or less per month.
If T-Mobile fails to meet its commitments, it'll be subject to penalties of up to $80 million.
Colorado is the second state to leave the lawsuit against T-Mobile and Sprint's merger. Mississippi left the lawsuit earlier this month after reaching its own deal with T-Mobile in which the carrier made 5G rollout commitments. There are still 16 state attorneys general suing to block the merger, but T-Mo appears to be working to get at least some of those participants to flip ahead of December 9th when the trial is set to begin.
