A lawsuit that claims Comcast Corp. has made antitrust violations has been approved to go to court, according to a Philadelphia judge's ruling. Judge John R. Padova, Jr. decided that two counts of the three-count case could go to a jury trial.

Summary judgments were given to Comcast as well. The lawsuit was filed nine years ago on behalf of Philadelphia customers of the company. The lawsuit's main claim is that Comcast made deals to get cable systems in Philadelphia. Specifically, they felt RCN Telecom Services was a big competitor.

With this new ruling, the two approved counts can proceed to a jury trial. Under scrutiny will be whether or not Comcast allocated markets horizontally, thereby violating antitrust laws. The count that was denied was the notion that Comcast's actions violated the Sherman Act.

The parts of the lawsuit that claim Comcast tried to monopolize the market by giving RCN customers steep discounts are what will be considered during the trial.

Comcast released in a statement that they are pleased with the outcome of the ruling, particularly that several claims were dropped during the process. They are confident that they will win during a jury trial.

(Source)