T-Mobile and Sprint get FCC approval to merge in 3-2 party-line vote

Enlarge / Federal Communication Commission Republican members (L-R) Brendan Carr, Michael O'Rielly, and Chairman Ajit Pai participate in a discussion during the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 23, 2018 in National Harbor, Maryland. (credit: Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla )

The Federal Communications Commission has voted 3-2 to approve T-Mobile's acquisition of Sprint, an FCC spokesperson confirmed to Ars today.

Republican Commissioners Brendan Carr and Michael O'Rielly backed Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to allow the merger, while Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks voted against it.

T-Mobile and Sprint previously secured merger approval from the Department of Justice, so the deal has been fully cleared by the federal government. But the companies won't be completing the merger just yet, as they face a lawsuit from a group of state attorneys general who are trying to block the deal.

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