Bloomberg

Apparently, top Justice Department officials want T-Mobile US and Sprint to lay the groundwork for a new wireless carrier -- with its own network -- as a condition to clearing their $26.5 billion merger. But the idea of spinning off a full-fledged national competitor would be a high bar for T-Mobile and Sprint to meet. T-Mobile and Sprint, the two smallest national wireless carriers, have to weigh whether the remedies offered to gain approval are too onerous.

T-Mobile suffered a significant setback in its bid for regulatory approval of its takeover of Sprint after failing to win over the Department of Justice (DOJ) with a remedy package, putting pressure on the companies to offer more concessions.

Apparently, the Justice Department is leaning against approving T-Mobile's proposed takeover of Sprint, even after the companies won the backing of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai. The remedies proposed by the wireless carriers on May 20 don’t go far enough to resolve the department’s concerns that the deal risks harming competition, apparently. While the FCC considers whether a merger is in the public interest, the Justice Department considers a different standard: whether a deal hurts competition and would raise prices for consumers.