IBM is suing Corning in federal court in Georgia for a “botched” design of a cellular distributed antenna system installed at the Atlanta Falcons’ Mercedes-Benz Stadium, reports Mobile Sports Report. IBM contends Corning failed to deliver a working DAS, according to the court filing, and that the Falcons and the NFL needed to spend additional “millions” to make the system operational. The issue is of interest, as the stadium will host the Super Bowl in February 2019.
IBM does not list a specific compensation amount in the suit. Instead, it intends to seek “damages in an amount to be proven at trial.” In its filing, IBM asserted it bought about $20 million in equipment and materials from Corning to build the DAS.
In response, Corning told MSR in a statement: “Corning is a company of the highest integrity. We are confident that the company had conducted itself in an honorable manner and has been fully compliant in meeting its contractual obligations.”
IBM claims in the filing that Corning’s DAS design was flawed, especially in its ability to predict correct antenna placement and orientation. IBM also asserted Corning didn’t have enough engineers during deployment to ensure the system was working and that it had to fix the system.
In a statement submitted to MSR, IBM said it “works successfully with partners on major projects around the world. On this project, however, Corning delivered a flawed cellular system to the Falcons and IBM, and then failed to fix it. IBM stepped in and spent a year to deliver state-of-the-art cellular performance for fans, and Corning is now accountable for failing to live up to its obligations.” Comments? Email us.
November 6, 2018
