Texas backs out of the lawsuit to stop the T-Mobile and Sprint merger

Texas no longer stands in the way of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger. The state has reached a settlement with T-Mobile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced today. In exchange for T-Mobile's commitment to build a 5G network throughout Texas, Paxton will drop the lawsuit he filed in August in an attempt to block the $26.5 billion deal.

The Federal Communications Commission formally approved the T-Mobile-Sprint merger earlier this month, and it's been approved by the Department of Justice. But attorneys general from 14 states and the District of Columbia still oppose the deal.

As many as 25 attorneys general have filed similar lawsuits, citing fears that the merger could hurt competition. But that number has been dropping. In addition to Texas, Mississippi and Colorado are two of the most recent states to settled with T-Mobile.

A trial is set to begin on December 9th in a Manhattan federal court, Reuters reports. It's likely T-Mobile will attempt to get the remaining AGs to change their minds, and it will be interesting to see who remains until the end.