It should come as no surprise that Sprint Nextel wants to block AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile. Calling the deal "brazenly anticompetitive" and warning of a "1980s-style cellphone duopoly" that would lead to "higher prices and less innovation," the company filed a litigation suit in Washington D.C. against the AT&T and T-Mobile on Tuesday. The Department of Justice filed a similar suit last week, and The New York Times reports that Sprint's is "the first of potentially a string of lawsuits aimed at stopping the blockbuster telecommunications merger, though it would likely be subordinate to the Obama administration's case." 

It's looking increasingly unlikely that the takeover will make it through, but experts say Sprint future is in deep trouble either way. Zach Epstein at Boy Genius Report says:

As Sprint continues to shed subscribers at an alarming rate--the nation’s No. 3 carrier lost 101,000 postpaid subscribers last quarter--analysts are rightfully beginning to wonder how Sprint’s situation will improve if AT&T and T-Mobile do not merge. With the amount of time and resources Sprint is putting into fighting the acquisition, this is certainly a valid question. The addition of Apple’s iPhone 5 is expected by some to bolster Sprint’s business when it launches next month, but each of the four major wireless carriers in the U.S. will carry the handset beginning next month according to reports.

Should the deal fall through, there's nice bonus for Sprint. AT&T will have to pay a $3 billion kill fee to T-Mobile.

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Adam Clark Estes