Sprint turns patent battle into a stronger wireless network for customers

A six-year patent fight between Sprint and cable company Cox Communications has ended with a deal aimed in part at boosting Sprint’s network.

Sprint said it will be able to strengthen its wireless network by tapping into Cox’s cable network under a “multi-year business agreement designed to strengthen each company,” Sprint’s announcement Thursday said.

The deal comes after Sprint reached a more extensive deal with cable operator Altice USA that also gave Altice access to Sprint’s network to offer wireless services to Altice customers.

Cox Communications had not released information about its deal with Sprint, and Sprint’s did not mention the benefits the deal offers Cox. Spokesman Tom Smith said the agreement “involves us providing additional services to Sprint that we offer today” and that Sprint, along with other wireless carriers, would “continue to be one of our largest customers.”

In an email, Sprint spokeswoman Lisa Belot said the agreement gives the wireless company “the opportunity to piggyback on Cox’s existing infrastructure – overhead and some underground lines as well as utility poles – independent of any permit” process. Belot said this reduces Sprint’s costs in making its network structure more dense through additional towers and small cells.

“This will help us to quickly improve our network performance, creating a better experience for Sprint customers in the Cox footprint,” Belot’s email said.

The two companies cut the deal as part of a settlement of their six-year court battle over patents. Sprint had sued Cox and other cable operators in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., in December 2011. The case against Cox was transferred to federal court in Delaware in 2012.

Sprint and Cox agreed to end that lawsuit Dec. 7 after entering “a Settlement Agreement resolving all claims” in the case, a filing in the lawsuit said. The original suit in Kansas said the cable company had used technology Sprint patented in the 1990s for transmitting voice data packets.

This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Sprint turns patent battle into a stronger wireless network for customers."