Sprint, iPCS headed back to court over WiMAX

Lynnette Luna — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:54:41 -0500

Sprint and iPCS are headed back to court this year after an Illinois court last week ruled a 2006 decision on whether Sprint's acquisition of Nextel violated its exclusivity agreement with iPCS also applied to Sprint's WiMAX operations.

"Sprint and those acting in concert with Sprint may not compete against iPCS in iPCS's exclusive service areas," Cook County Circuit Judge Kathleen Pantle said in her ruling.

iPCS has claimed it holds exclusive rights to market Sprint products in certain areas in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska, along with bordering parts of Indiana and Missouri. At the trial, set for March 30, the court will determine whether Sprint actually has control over the new Clearwire, formed when Sprint and Clearwire combined their WiMAX assets, and if exclusivity agreements apply if Sprint acts through a related party.

Sprint has indicated it will act as an MVNO to sell Clearwire's WiMAX service under the brand "Sprint 4G." This ruling will not be enforced until another Cook County Circuit judge, the one who made the original 2006 ruling, decides on a claim by Sprint to dismiss that ruling based on new evidence.

For more:
- check out the Daily Herald

Related articles:
iPCS thwarted; Sprint can move ahead with Clearwire
Court halts Sprint-iPCS suit over WiMAX

Court: Sprint affiliate can proceed with legal action against Sprint/Clearwire deal

Lynnette Luna — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:40:29 -0400

A Delaware court is allowing Sprint affiliate iPCS, the operator's larger affiliate, to move ahead with its legal action against Sprint and its planned WiMAX joint venture with Clearwire. However, the court won't allow two other iPCS subsidiaries, Horizon PCS and Bright PCS, to joint the legal action.

iPCS has the exclusive rights to sell Sprint Nextel branded services in 80 markets, and in March iPCS and its subsidiaries filed a complaint against Sprint, claiming its WiMAX deal with Clearwire would breach the exclusivity provisions of IPCS' affiliate agreements with Sprint. iPCS wants a declaratory judgment against Sprint that a merger with Clearwire would in fact breach its affiliate agreements with Sprint. Moreover, the affiliate wants a permanent injunction against the merger until its affiliate agreements have been modified with Sprint.

It looks like it's deja vu all over again for Sprint, which had similar battles with affiliates over its merger with Nextel. It ended up coughing up millions to purchase these companies in 2005 so it could consummate its merger with Nextel. Fortunately for Sprint this time around, there aren't many of them left.

For more:
- read Cellular-news

Related stories:
iPCS sues Sprint Nextel over Clearwire deal. iPCS story
Sprint Nextel buys two affiliates. Sprint story

Ipcs

Sprint, iPCS headed back to court over WiMAX

Court: Sprint affiliate can proceed with legal action against Sprint/Clearwire deal