PLDT’s $3 Million Deal Over Telecom Revamp Costs Gets First Nod

US investors are entitled to preliminary approval of a $3 million class settlement with Philippines telephone company PLDT Inc. over broadband infrastructure costs, a federal court ruled.

The settlement “presents a fair compromise given the costs, risks, and delay of trial and appeal,” Judge Cormac J. Carney said in an order docketed Thursday in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

The greater-than-15% recovery on estimated maximum damages of $19.5 million “is an exceptional result” for the class, he said.

Carney also tentatively approved an attorneys’ fee award of up to 25% of the settlement fund.

The ...