The nation’s five largest wireless carriers don’t engage in antitrust practices by persuading customers to buy certain handsets to subscribe to their services, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote tossed out a group of five lawsuits brought by wireless phone customers who claimed that since 1998, the companies had unlawfully tied the sale of handsets to the sale of wireless services.

In a ruling issued this week, Cote wrote that the plaintiffs had not provided proof that any defendant had the marketing power necessary to damage competition in the U.S. cellular phone market by using the practice.

The carriers are AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless LLC, T-Mobile and Sprint Spectrum L.P.