Dish upon a star: The Tipline for 9 December 2019

T-Mobile/Sprint is finally being put to the test. After more than one-and-a-half years of litigating the merger in the press, before Congress and in every known antitrust forum, the merits of the merger challenge brought by a coalition of states will finally be examined before a federal court. Of course, the case is of note beyond its impact on the more than 95% of US adults who own cell phones. In atypical fashion, 14 state attorneys general are challenging a deal that federal government has already approved. That fact has not been lost on the judge presiding over the trial. During a final pretrial conference on Friday, Judge Victor Marrero appeared most interested in determining the impact of the settlement the merging companies reached with the Department of Justice.