Sprint gave in to customers switching carriers and agreed to provide departing ones with the unlocking code necessary to use the handsets they own on competitors’ networks. Sprint Nextel's answer seeks to settle a class-action lawsuit filed last year in California.

The lawsuit's plaintiffs claimed Sprint tries to force customers to stay with the company by failing to provide unlocking codes for the phones they buy. This means that outgoing customers are forced to buy a new phone if they switch to competitors such as Verizon Wireless and Alltel Corp., as the phone they bought from Sprint is unusable.

"We believe this settlement is fair and reasonable," Sprint Nextel spokesman Matt Sullivan said, also adding that the company denies wrongdoing and settled the suit "so we can continue to focus on our business."

Essentially, Sprint agreed to provide unlocking codes for all past and current subscribers from between Aug. 28, 1999, and July 16, 2007. Also, the company will provide new customers with specific information on how to obtain unlock codes if they decide to leave Sprint for another carrier.

T-Mobile and AT&T - Apple face similar lawsuits, with the latter two being hit by two separate lawsuits last week which claim the iPhone's use restrictions and a software upgrade that disables unlocked iPhones constituted unfair business practices.

Sprint announced earlier this month it will start selling the HTC Touch, a full touch screen smartphone running Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6 operating system. The smartphone has been labeled since its launch in the United Kingdom in June as an "iPhone killer", as it shares some characteristics with Apple's gadget.

Taiwanese company HTC, which has long produced phones for a variety of carriers under their brand, started to brand its own phones this year. HTC modified a stylus version of Windows Mobile 6 to be more usable with a finger, and they called their technology "TouchFLO".

The Sprint Touch will go on sale Nov. 4 for $250 with a two-year contract (with a $100 mail-in rebate), while, in comparison, the 8-Gbyte iPhone costs $400 with a two-year subscription to AT&T. The Touch is smaller and lighter than the iPhone, with a screen measuring 2.8 inches diagonally compared with the iPhone's 3.5 inches.