Once more around the block for Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Cablevision (NYSE: CVC). On Monday the companies settled a lawsuit filed earlier this month claiming Verizon was misrepresenting the cable company's Internet speeds.
Now that the ad campaign associated with the claim has run its course (it was set to wrap up Dec. 17), Verizon has agreed to use new ads in the future.
Cablevision had asked that Verizon pull its radio, TV, Internet and direct mail ads citing a "just released" FCC report that showed Cablevision's Internet speeds were sometimes only 59 percent of those advertised.
But Cablevision said the report actually was from March and that it has since updated its system, a claim acknowledged by the FCC in a blog post, which called its own report outdated. More recent tests from September and October show the cable company's Internet speeds are more in keeping with its own advertised claims.
The case had been scheduled to go before a judge in New York Monday.
Verizon and Cablevision have been padding lawyers' pockets in recent months.
Verizon last week, with AT&T (NYSE: T), won an appeal that will force Cablevision to supply the telcos with an HD feed from its regional sports network. A year ago, Verizon accused Cablevision of infringing on patents relating to new set-top-box features. More recently, Verizon has been on the receiving end of a big patent infringement lawsuit by ActiveVideo, whose largest customer is Cablevision.
For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
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