"We look forward to working with all of the parties involved, as prescribed by the courts, with the goal of reaching final settlement in May 2008." Other wireless carriers operating in the state-including T-Mobile USA Inc. and Alltel Corp.-may eventually settle as well, since they face the possibility of even great financial liability if the class-action litigation continues in cities' six-year-old lawsuit against cellular companies. Mobile-phone operators oppose being saddled with gross receipts taxes previously applied to landline telephone companies, but nonetheless have paid them under protest in recent years. The push to extend municipal utility taxes to wireless carriers has mushroomed into a messy controversy encompassing hundreds of lawsuits and a key ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court that trumped a legislative effort to cap local wireless taxes.