This is the best summary I could come up with:
Nov 3 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Chicago has ordered T-Mobile US (TMUS.O) to face a lawsuit from AT&T (T.N) and Verizon (VZ.N) subscribers who claim the mobile communication giant’s deal for rival Sprint hurt competition and caused them to pay billions of dollars more for wireless service.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin in a 41-page ruling on Thursday said the plaintiffs “plausibly” argued that higher prices “flowed directly” from the $26 billion merger.
The proposed class action on behalf of tens to hundreds of millions of consumers was filed last year and seeks a range of penalties, including undoing the 2020 T-Mobile-Sprint merger.
The court’s decision also trimmed the lawsuit, knocking out Japan’s SoftBank (9984.T), Sprint’s controlling shareholder, as a defendant.
An attorney for the plaintiffs, Brendan Glackin, said they were grateful for the court’s “well-considered order” and eager to move ahead with the case.
The U.S. Justice Department was not a part of that lawsuit but reached a settlement with the merged company requiring it to divest some assets to satellite operator DISH Network.
The original article contains 428 words, the summary contains 177 words. Saved 59%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Interesting. So 7 AT&T and Verizon customers are suing T-Mobile because AT&T and Verizon were keeping their prices lower because of the competition from T-Mobile and Sprint. Once T-Mobile merged with Sprint, AT&T and Verizon RAISED THEIR PRICES and these customers didn’t switch to T-Mobile but instead are suing them for not having low enough prices? That’s insane that this is getting this far.
Yeah, I don’t think this is going to go anywhere. If nothing else, they’re just going to be like, “Well, switch to T-mobile them.”
I agree that the merger was not ideal, but I cannot see, under any interpretation, how T-mobile would be the defendant. Probably the US with Verizon and AT&T added on I would think. If Walmart raises prices because Kroger acquired another chain, what does that have to do with Kroger? Ridiculous.
