A US judge has given the go-ahead for telecoms giant T-Mobile US to buy its smaller rival Sprint.
The £20bn deal will mark a major shakeup of the industry as it will mean there will be just three major players in the American mobile phone market.
The ruling will pave the way for the completion of a deal first agreed two years ago.Shares in Japan’s SoftBank, which owns Sprint, jumped after the announcement.
A federal judge rejected a claim by a group of Democrat-led states that the planned merger would break anti-competition laws and mean higher prices for customers.
If left unchallenged, the ruling will mean the majority of US mobile phone users will be served by just three networks: Verizon, AT&T, and the new T-Mobile.