Supreme Court

Sprint given more time to shut down offending Nextel networks

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:30:07 -0500

Sprint Nextel has about a year to shut down Nextel's iDEN network in 81 markets where its affiliate iPCS operates, following an Illinois Supreme Court decision that effectively forced Sprint to stop operating the iDEN network in those markets.

On Wednesday, the court blocked a motion by Sprint for the court to reconsider its decision to side with iPCS. iPCS had brought suit claiming that by operating the Nextel network in iPCS's exclusive territory, Sprint violated the conditions of its Management Agreement with the company. The court extended the timeline from 180 days to 360 days, something that iPCS was not pleased with but was willing to accept.

"We are disappointed that Sprint has been given an extra 180 days to comply with its obligations, particularly since the original order was entered in September of 2006," iPCS CEO Timothy Yager said in a statement. "Nonetheless, we look forward to Sprint's compliance with the trial court's order and are encouraged that the Illinois courts continue to share our view of the protections afforded by our agreements with Sprint."

A Sprint spokesman said the decision was not unexpected and that the carrier had been planning on how to respond for some time. The move is the latest headache for the beleaguered operator, which has been losing customers at a steady clip and is struggling to regain a solid financial position.

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Illinois Supreme Court deals legal blow to Sprint

Phil Goldstein — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:22:37 -0500

The Illinois Supreme Court dealt another blow to Sprint Nextel in its long-standing legal battle with its affiliate iPCS, when it refused on Wednesday to grant Sprint's petition for leave to appeal a ruling by the Appellate Court of Illinois issued in March 2008.

The Appellate Court had unanimously, in turn, upheld a 2006 ruling by Circuit Court in Cook County, Ill., that said Sprint violated the terms of its Management Agreement with iPCS following Sprint's merger with Nextel, because Sprint had wanted to operate Nextel's iDEN network in territory where iPCS had exclusivity rights.

The Illinois Supreme Court issued a similar ruling at the end of September, and ruled then that Sprint would have to stop owning, operating, and managing the Nextel network in iPCS territory. Sprint had asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision, which was denied Wednesday.

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Illinois court won't hear Sprint's appeal in iPCS case

Sue Marek — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:54:47 -0400

Sprint's legal wrangles with affiliate iPCS continue to cause angst for the carrier. The Supreme Court of Illinois yesterday refused to hear an appeal from Sprint Nextel of an earlier ruling by the Appellate Court of Illinois on a lawsuit filed against Sprint by iPCS.

iPCS sued Sprint back in 2005 saying that Sprint's merger with Nextel was anti-competitive and it had an agreement with Sprint giving it exclusivity in its territories. In late March, the Appellate Court affirmed a lower court's ruling and said that Sprint Nextel must sell its Nextel network in iPCS' territory. Sprint says that earlier this week it filed a petition with the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., asking it to set aside the original judgment in the case. However, iPCS says that it will oppose Sprint's petition because it believes this is another attempt by Sprint to avoid complying with the terms of its original affiliate agreement with iPCS.

Of course, this isn't the only litigation between the two firms. iPCS also has sued Sprint over its WiMAX deal with Clearwire. On Sept. 15, a judge denied Sprint's motion to dismiss iPCS' lawsuit.

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Supreme Court rejects T-Mobile request

Sue Marek — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:41:36 -0400

T-Mobile USA received a big blow today as the Supreme Court rejected the company's appeal in three cases involving the legal remedies available in millions of cell phone contracts. At issue is whether state laws that limit the ability of companies to prohibit consumers from banding together to pursue class action lawsuits are preempted by federal law. T-Mobile argued that federal law, which generally requires that arbitration clauses be enforced, overrules the state laws that limit the ability of companies to ban class actions. AP story