Sprint Nextel Corp. will provide customers wanting to switch carriers the programming code they need to unlock their cell phones’ software. The company has agreed to do so as part of a settlement of class actions in California and Florida alleging it locked cell phone handsets to make it difficult for customers to switch cell phone service without buying a new handset. The settlement covers all customers who bought Sprint phones between Aug. 28, 1999, and July 16, 2007. It should allow those phones to be switched to competitors whose networks are compatible with Sprint’s, such as Verizon Wireless and Alltel Corp.
Sprint, whose operational headquarters is in Overland Park, has denied wrongdoing but said it agreed to settle the cases to avoid the uncertainties and expense of litigation.
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