T-Mobile US returns to Sprint deal with whip hand

NEW YORK: T-Mobile US and Sprint have won the fight for regulatory approval of their merger. Now comes another potential skirmish: renegotiating the terms of the agreement. Two years after the original tie-up was announced, T-Mobile US boss John Legere has an opportunity, and a good reason, to cut a better deal.

A federal judge approved the merger of America’s No. 3 and No. 4 mobile carriers on Tuesday, rejecting an argument by some U.S. states that competition would fall and prices rise as a result. Sprint claimed, plausibly, that it was so weak that the deal was a matter of survival. But since the original terms have lapsed, the weakness that was an asset in the courtroom becomes a liability at the negotiating table.