Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, a Clinton appointee, wrote that the proposed merger between two of the four major telecom companies in the U.S. is not "reasonably likely to substantially lessen competition," striking down the states' central argument.
The states had argued that the merger could harm competition in the telecom marketplace, while raising concerns it could potentially raise prices for the new company's hundreds of millions of subscribers.
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