The Justice Department is pushing state officials to support a planned settlement that would allow T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. to merge by selling assets to Dish Network Corp. , according to people familiar with the matter.

The discussions come in response to some of the state attorneys general who have already filed a federal antitrust suit seeking to block the more than $26 billion merger, the people say. The discussions are ongoing; it couldn’t be learned whether any of the states will shift their support.

The talks include attorneys general from states that refrained from joining the lawsuit, according to another person familiar with the matter.

The delay from Washington came as T-Mobile reported another quarter of customer gains and raised its forecast for the year. The company added 710,000 net postpaid phone customers and ended the period with 131,000 more prepaid subscribers.

The company released its quarterly results but canceled a planned conference call with investors. Its executives have argued the combination with Sprint will help the two companies speed the rollout of a 5G network and compete with Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc.