Judge presses speed in Sprint/T-Mobile trial

Dec. 09, 2019 6:08 PM ETDISH, TMUS, DTEGY, SBy: Jason Aycock, SA News Editor97 Comments

Day One of the Sprint/T-Mobile trial got off to a quick start as U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero told both sides (the companies trying to merge, and the coalition of states trying to stop them) to skip opening arguments and proceed quickly to witnesses.
That signals a wish for a quick trial on the issue; it's currently scheduled to run into Christmas week but could always leak into a much longer affair.
Marrero also asked both sides to trim their witness lists.
The states began witness questions with Sprint marketing chief Roger Solé, Boost Mobile exec Angela Rittgers, and Deutsche Telekom (OTCQX:DTEGY) chief Tim Hoettges.
Despite some defections and additions to their ranks, the states opposing the deal are still arguing that a DOJ settlement is insufficient to address their objections, and that Dish Network (NASDAQ:DISH) is too inexperienced to become a fourth competitor and replacement for Sprint.
For today's regular session: Sprint (NYSE:S) -2.4%; T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) -2.4%.