A federal judge has cleared a major path for T-Mobile to buy Sprint for $26.5 billion, citing T-Mobile’s track record in promoting competition, even as legal scholars and consumer advocates warn about higher phone bills.

Judge Victor Marrero in New York said he believed the new T-Mobile would continue to compete aggressively with Verizon and AT&T, the industry giants whose size it now rivals. T-Mobile, the No. 3 U.S. phone company, has been known for such consumer-friendly, industry-shattering measures as abolishing two-year service contracts and restoring unlimited data plans.

“I’d be surprised in this case if consumers get anything out of it,” said Cardozo law professor Sam Weinstein, a former Justice Department antitrust attorney.

Gigi Sohn, a former Federal Communications Commission adviser who is now a fellow at Georgetown’s law school, said that while consumers are often promised benefits from mergers, “what they are left with each time are corporate behemoths” that can raise prices and destroy competition.

More at AP.