Imagine and Motorola settle €138m lawsuit

Broadband supplier Imagine and telecoms giant Motorola have settled their €138 million lawsuit.

Imagine began a High Court action against Motorola six years ago saying that it had failed to deliver a broadband network for the Irish company as promised and sought €138 million.

Motorola told the court that the plaintiff’s case should be struck out as it was baseless and launched a counterclaim of its own.

On Wednesday both sides issued a joint statement saying that they had resolved all commercial disputes and associated legal actions between them. “The terms are confidential,” they added.

Imagine’s claim dated back to when it began rolling out a new broadband network using Motorola’s Wimax technology.

The Irish company told the High Court in 2011 that Motorola was supposed to have provided 234 base stations for its wireless network by the end of the previous year, but had only installed 125.

Restructure debt

Imagine said that the delay had significantly depleted its capital and forced it to restructure debt.

The company has since moved to Long Term Evolution (LTE) Advanced technology, which is a high-speed wireless system, with speeds ranging up to 150MB, used by the mobile industry.

It is building a network using this system which is expected to reach about 500,000 homes by next month.

The Sandyford, Dublin-based company has a large number of subscribers, particularly in rural areas, in counties such as Cavan, Clare, Cork, Galway and Kildare.

In 2015 it said that it was planning to spend €200 million on developing its network over five years.