US Justice Dept to decide on T-Mobile, Sprint merger as early as next week

The Justice Department wants the companies to sell off additional assets including some wireless spectrum to create a new wireless competitor before agreeing to approve the deal

The U.S. Justice Department is set to decide as early as next week whether to approve the $26.5-billion merger of wireless carriers T-Mobile USA and Sprint Corp, a person briefed on the matter said on Friday. 

Earlier this week, Dish Network Corp executives met with the Justice Department’s antitrust chief Makan Delrahim and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai as part of the government’s review of the deal, which could dramatically reshape the U.S. wireless market.

A federal filing Friday revealed Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen was among the executives who attended the meeting Tuesday, and the firm “discussed its opposition to the