CSG Systems International Inc. is apparently holding out an olive branch to
Comcast Corp. by voluntarily withdrawing its complaint against the MSO.
The Englewood, Colo.-based billing provider filed a notice of dismissal
Friday in U.S. District Court in Denver.
The complaint, filed in June, had alleged that Comcast interfered with the
15-year billing contract CSG holds with AT&T Broadband.
CSG and AT&T Broadband have a long history of legal battles over the
contract, which was struck in 1997.
In the latest round, now before an arbitrator, AT&T Broadband is pressing
to be let out of the contract, claiming that CSG has withheld key customer data.
CSG, in turn, has filed a counterclaim, charging that AT&T Broadband
conspired to replace it with another billing firm and was preventing it from
competing fairly for a billing-aggregation contract.
While that matter is still working its way through arbitration, CSG has
decided to drop the claim against Comcast in part to improve relations with the
MSO before it takes over AT&T Broadband in a merger set to close soon.
'The motivation behind our withdrawal is to pave the way for productive
communication between CSG and Comcast with the goal of resolving the dispute
raised in the arbitration between AT&T Broadband and CSG,' said Joseph
Ruble, CSG's senior vice president of corporate development and general counsel,
in a release.
Nevertheless, Ruble also cautioned that the action should not be taken as an
indication that it is close to settling its legal dispute with AT&T
Broadband, adding that if there is no resolution, CSG could resubmit the
complaint against Comcast.
