March 27 (Reuters) - T-Mobile has won its bid to appeal

a judge's ruling that allowed a potential class of millions of

Verizon and AT&T subscribers to move ahead with a lawsuit

challenging the company's $26 billion purchase of rival Sprint

in 2020.

Illinois U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin on Wednesday

ruled that T-Mobile can appeal his order to the Chicago-based

7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals now, rather than at a later

stage in the case.

The private consumer lawsuit alleges the merger has caused

Verizon and AT&T, which are not defendants, to charge more for

wireless service. The plaintiffs want the courts to undo the

combination.

T-Mobile and the plaintiffs' attorneys did not immediately

respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

Durkin's Wednesday ruling sets up what is expected to be a

closely watched appeal testing the scope of antitrust law.

At the heart of the challenge, T-Mobile argues that

subscribers of Verizon and AT&T have no legal "standing" to

pursue billions of dollars in alleged damages over T-Mobile's

Sprint deal. T-Mobile contends AT&T and Verizon control their

own networks' prices, and that the plaintiffs' claims cannot be

attributable to the merger.

T-Mobile and Sprint previously defeated a separate court

challenge to the merger from a group of states, and the U.S.

Justice Department reached a settlement with the merged company

requiring some divestiture of assets.

The consumers' proposed class action was brought by seven

AT&T or Verizon subscribers in Illinois and Indiana. They called

the T-Mobile-Sprint deal "one of the most anti-competitive

acquisitions in history."

Durkin in November declined to dismiss the lawsuit.

Attorneys for T-Mobile urged Durkin to allow an appeal now

for the sake of efficiency. They argued that the plaintiffs'

"expansive conception of antitrust standing is unprecedented."

They

The plaintiffs' lawyers in a filing in December said the

case should be heard by a jury before any appeal.

They argued that a "potentially years-long delay" in the

appeals court would only make it harder to unwind a merger that

is already four years old.

The case is Dale v. Deutsche Telekom AG, U.S. District Court

for the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:22-cv-03189.

For plaintiffs: Brendan Glackin of Lieff Cabraser Heimann &

Bernstein; Gary Smith Jr of Hausfeld; Eric Cramer of Berger

Montague; and Joel Flaxman and Kenneth Flaxman of Kenneth N.

Flaxman PC

For T-Mobile: Clifford Histed of K&L Gates; and Rachel Brass

of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Read more:

T-Mobile seeks quick appeal to halt US consumer lawsuit over

Sprint deal

T-Mobile must face private antitrust lawsuit over $26 bln

Sprint deal - US judge