Telecom giant AT&T will be allowed to move forward with the merger it negotiated with Time Warner, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a long-awaited decision expected to have major implications for future mergers and how consumers navigate the media landscape.

In the lawsuit brought forward by the Department of Justice, Judge Richard Leon sided against the governments claims that the $85.4-billion deal between the two companies would violate antitrust laws and unfairly lead to higher prices for consumers.

AT&T says it plans to move forward with the deal in less than a week, leaving a small window of time for the justice department to file an appeal.

Analysts say the judges go-ahead will likely rewrite the rules on how courts apply antitrust laws, paving the way for a number of other potential sales involving names like Comcast, Disney, 21st Century Fox and several other content creation and distribution companies.

AT&T, a content distributor, first announced a deal in October 2016 that would let it acquire Time Warner, a content creator that counts HBO, Warner Bros. and cable network giant Turner Broadcasting among its biggest assets.