With its olive branch now more or less mulch, CSG Systems International Inc. is asking a federal judge to delay or dismiss a suit filed by Comcast Corp. last month.
The motion, filed in U.S. District Court's Pennsylvania Eastern District, asked that the court dismiss Comcast's complaint or delay the action until arbitration between the two companies is complete.
Comcast filed the suit last month against the Englewood, Colo.-based billing-services provider, claiming that it is not bound by the 15-year master-subscriber agreement CSG forged with AT&T Broadband in 1997. The suit argued that the agreement should be terminated and a new one renegotiated.
CSG had a series of running battles with AT&T Broadband over the contract, and it was in arbitration at the time the MSO closed its merger with Comcast.
During that arbitration, CSG had filed a complaint against Comcast charging that the MSO was interfering with the contract, but shortly before the MSOs' merger closed, CSG withdrew the complaint as a goodwill gesture.
It didn't work. One week later, Comcast filed its complaint against CSG, which also included a request that the dispute be settled by the district court rather than by arbitration.
CSG's suit filed this week argued that the dispute should remain in the arbitrator's hands. The next scheduled session before the arbitrator is set for May 5.
