Verizon and Cablevision have reached a settlement in a dispute closely watched by California business dispute lawyers. The dispute involved a series of Verizon TV ads mocking Cablevision’s Internet speeds. The settlement was announced just hours before a US District Court heard opening arguments in the dispute. The terms of the settlement between the two companies have not been revealed.

The dispute involves allegations that Verizon’s TV advertising campaign poked fun at Cablevision’s prime time Internet speeds. Those ads mentioned the low speeds of Cablevision’s Optimum Online Internet service. The ads said that Cablevision delivered prime time Internet speeds that were much lower than the speeds advertised on television. The Verizon ads used data by the Federal Communications Commission to back up those claims.

According to the ads by Verizon, ‘just released’ data by the Federal Communications Commission found that Cablevision delivers a maximum of 59% of the speeds that it advertises during primetime hours. Cablevision lodged a complaint against the ads. According to the complaint, the Federal Communications Commission data in August made use of test results that were performed in March. Since then, according to Cablevision, its system has been upgraded, and speeds have improved.

Cablevision asked Verizon to remove the ads, because they were based on outdated data by the Federal Communications Commission. Verizon refused saying there was no need for Cablevision’s complaint, because Verizon was planning to remove the word ‘recent’ from its ads anyway. It also planned to stop saying that Cablevision ‘currently’ delivers only 59% of the speeds that advertises.

That led to Cablevision filing a lawsuit against Verizon, the 2nd biggest American telephone company. According to Verizon, the ads ran their due course on December 17, and the company will be using new advertisements soon.