AT&T — after roughly 20 months — is finally getting ready for a bigger push into new markets.  

The telecommunications giant escaped the U.S. Department of Justice’s suit to block a merger with Time Warner Inc. after Judge Richard Leon ruled Tuesday the federal government didn’t do enough to make its case. Now, Dallas-based AT&T, barring more legal maneuvers, is set to move more aggressively into ads and entertainment.

“It’s a brand new day; it’s a brand new start; it’s a brand new re-creation,” said Jeff Kagan, an industry analyst. “What we’re watching is the re-creation of the communications industry.”  

AT&T, which has seen the rise of wireless, broadband and other technologies, is looking to Time Warner to find new ways to fuel growth and expand its reach. While many challenges remain with a merger of this size, the company has signaled it can use data and analytics to attract more advertising with the deal.  

“These industries are changing so much that all the players are going to have to experiment,” said Michael Davis, a senior lecturer at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. “There’s no guarantee that any of it’s going to work.”