Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) is seeking to block former executive Preshanth Myla from working at Metronet, alleging he violated stock option agreements and Connecticut trade secrets law, Broadband Breakfast reported. Myla, who left Charter in October 2024 and joined Metronet in December, was previously the vice president of IT device activation at Charter.
Last July, T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) and KKR (NYSE: KKR) announced a joint venture to acquire Metronet. Charter fears that T-Mobile will access its trade secrets regarding convergence, which combines mobile and fixed broadband services.
Charter, with operations in 41 states, reported 30 million broadband customers and 10 million mobile connections at the end of 2024. In comparison, T-Mobile has over 6.4 million fixed wireless access broadband subscribers and 129 million mobile customers but does not offer a converged fiber/wireless service like AT&T (NYSE: T) or Verizon (NYSE: VZ), according to Inside Towers Intelligence.
Charter claims Myla’s stock option agreements bar him from working for competitors for a year. Myla argues these agreements are overly broad and violate Colorado law, the jurisdiction where he worked for the company. Following a January complaint, Charter filed an emergency motion on January 24, to immediately block Myla from Metronet. Both parties must respond to these motions by February 7.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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