T-Mobile US asked the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate 29 class action lawsuits made against the company following a data breach, proposing all claims be heard as one suit by a solitary court.

In a filing, T-Mobile noted the request does not remove its right to seek arbitration over the matters. The panel is a section of the broader US judiciary which determines if suits filed in different courts can be consolidated.

T-Mobile disclosed a network security breach in August which affected 48 million current, former and prospective customers.

One plaintiff filed a separate motion also seeking to consolidate the cases, but in a different court to the one proposed by T-Mobile.

The operator argued the plaintiff’s selection “is not well suited” to hear the matter due to a shortage of judges.

T-Mobile also noted the location of hearings is less important due to Covid-19 (coronavirus) restrictions, with courts tending to hear cases online.