Sprint, Big River Settle Patent Spat

Big River Telephone Co. in Missouri has agreed to non-exclusively license Sprint Nextel Corp. VoIP patents at an undisclosed cost.

In January 2008, Sprint sued Big River, as well as NuVox Communications, Broadvox Holdings and PAETEC, for patent infringement.

Big River was the last provider involved in the case to settle with Sprint. The settlement frees Big River to sell wholesale phone services to cable operators, as well as continue offering VoIP services to consumers.