In return, Akamai said it will drop several lawsuits it had brought against the British company.

News of the deal sent shares of Akamai surging $1.22, or 13 percent, to $10.30 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The American depositary shares of Cable & Wireless Internet Services parent Cable & Wireless PLC rose 24 cents, or 3.7 percent, at $6.70, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Cambridge-based Akamai didn't admit liability or make any payments to dismiss the suits, which Cable & Wireless had filed in Boston, San Francisco and London.

Akamai and Cable & Wireless Internet Services also agreed not to sue each other for five years over the patents and services that had been at issue.

In July 2002, Cable & Wireless PLC filed a lawsuit alleging that some of the Internet services Akamai provides infringed on Cable & Wireless' patent.

In a separate lawsuit, Cable & Wireless alleged Akamai infringed on its patented technology, known as Host-to-Host Adaptive Routing Protocol, which improves the reliability and performance of Internet systems by using redundant network paths intelligently.

Akamai said the agreement has no bearing on another patent lawsuit against Cable & Wireless Internet Services. In 2001, a jury in Boston found Cable & Wireless Internet Services was infringing a separate patent, the company said.

Akamai said it will continue to press that case separately to try to obtain compensation, and a damages trial is expected next year.