Now that the U.S. Justice Department has planted a big kiss of approval on the combination of Sprint and TMobile, I predict 5 near term outcomes:

1) Charlie Ergen, CEO of Dish, gets yet another opportunity to find ways to evade regulator- imposed deadlines.  Facing a use or lose deadline for 5G spectrum, his company has received a lifeline from the Justice Department for further delay.  It does not take much to play the government and consumers for fools.

2)  John Legere, CEO of TMobile develops an aversion to pink and gets a haircut. You will never see him on a motorcycle again.

3)   The combined Sprint-TMobile finds ways to raise subscriber out of pocket rates, with new billing line items.

4) Somehow, some way, the robust 4th wireless carrier lacks most of the innovation, ambition and aggressive price cutting of Sprint or TMobile.  So much for re-creating a 4th carrier maverick.

5) Learning nothing about the consequences of airline, hospital, pharma and other industry consolidations, we are shocked at how U.S. wireless service rates exceed every country but Canada and Greece.