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AT&T not happy with Verizon ads: 'There's a lawsuit for that'

by Mel Martin Nov 3rd 2009 at 6:30PM

Stung by some pretty aggressive advertising by Verizon, AT&T has had enough and is suing the communications giant for false and misleading claims.

AT&T says the ads, which show that AT&T has poor 3G coverage compared to Verizon are causing it to lose "incalculable market share."

According to the lawsuit which AT&T filed in Atlanta federal court, a recently broadcast ad campaign shows maps with white spaces that mislead consumers into thinking AT&T has no network coverage outside of areas where it offers high-speed mobile services, known as 3G.

But AT&T argued that its customers can "fully use their wireless devices outside of a '3G' coverage area and undisputedly have coverage in areas depicted by white or blank spaces on the maps used in Verizon's advertisements."

Verizon says the lawsuit has no merit, and Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Nancy Stark said the ads "clearly state" that voice and data services are available outside 3G areas. She said the ads were intended to tell consumers about coverage for smartphones, which are used for data services.

If you want to see the ad that sparked the lawsuit, click here.

[via Engadget]

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Stung by some pretty aggressive advertising by Verizon, AT&T has had enough and is suing the communications giant for false and...
 

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twystedferret

I agree totally with the Verizon commercials....I have an iPhone, and I cannot get a signal in half of my house...literally...if I am in the south part of my house I am fine, but as soon as I go 10 feet to the north, I lose signal...I have NEVER in my life had so many dropped calls as I have had with AT&T...their service is horrible.
They should use the money to put up towers and increasing their service coverage, instead of worrying what someone is saying about them They are losing "incalculable market share." due to their rotten coverage, Verizon is merely pointing it out.

November 09 2009 at 9:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Craig

The only reason I got on AT&T was for the iPhone. Then I discovered I couldn't get 3G signal in my home *on the San Francisco waterfront* ffs. And their billing plans are overpriced and exploitative. As soon as my 2 yr contract expires I'm getting a Droid.

November 05 2009 at 4:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bassplayer

*yawn* the commercials very very clear they were talking about 3G.

November 05 2009 at 10:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tagbert

How much of the Verizon red is true 3G vs the 1xRTT 2.5G that they call 3G? That service is pretty much the same as Edge. If they included Edge on the AT&T map it would have looked a lot different.

Let's make sure that our oranges are all orange and not a little applish.

November 05 2009 at 2:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eric D.

AT&T has the "fastest 3G network" if you happen to be standing 20 feet away from one of their five 3G towers.

November 04 2009 at 1:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bhmfus6

In effect, AT&T admits to poor 3G coverage. Verizon is not slamming AT&T's voice coverage...only 3G coverage.

November 04 2009 at 1:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jonathan

has everyone forgotten that Verizon uses a CDMA network?
just like sprint, who cares if u have more 3G coverage?

If i canNOT use data AND voice and THE SAME TIME whats the point??

sorry verizon but thats a deal breaker for me.....

on top of that, they have all the ridiculous taxes and fees they charge that always seems to exceed my at&t bill.

November 04 2009 at 10:12 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to jonathan's comment
DA360

I forgot about that but this IS true. I have a Sprint WinMo PDA provided to me by my employer for opening and closing repair tickets and making calls to customers and I can't talk to someone on my bluetooth headset AND put in data into the scheduling system at the same time. However, I CAN browse a website and talk to someone at the same time on my iPhone over 3G or Edge.

So there's advantages and disadvantages of GSM and CDMA. Obviously no data and voice at the same time and slower data rates is a disadvantage of CDMA but one of its advantages is better cell tower range. GSM has shorter, if not much shorter, cell tower ranges but faster data rates and can do voice and data simultaneously. It depends on where you live of which one of the two (and which carrier) has better service.

November 04 2009 at 1:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jonathan

Exactly.

Another thing I failed to mention is that while all of us here know the difference between 3G coverage and just voice coverage, most of America looks at those ads and assumes they are talking about netwok coverage.
I for one looked at that map and was shocked immediately wondering how apple is able to sell iPhones in Montana or anywhere in the Midwest without any coverage lol

it wasn't until about the 3 or 4th time viewing the commercial that I realized it was only talking about 3G coverage. And still that doesn't equate to just data for the regular person that doesn't sit at home/work reading tech blogs

November 04 2009 at 2:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
DA360

Well, here in Cincinnati AT&T has VERY good coverage in the major city areas, but I think that's only thanks to one thing: Cincinnati Bell Wireless uses AT&T's towers and they helped fund building more in the Cincinnati area.

But either way, I do think Verizon does have a point but they kind of exaturated it abit. But its obvious by any iPhone owner that AT&Ts network leaves ALLOT to be desired in majority of areas in the United States, and that Verizon does have better coverage.

I am sure almost every iPhone owner is hoping the AT&T exclusivity will end in the United States soon, especially with it going to many other carriers in other countries such as the UK, Canada, and whatnot.

November 04 2009 at 5:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
alansky

The truth hurts.

November 03 2009 at 11:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
moler

I recently visited friends in Vermont and my iPhone was working only on the top of a hill near my friend's house. Not just 3G but phone calls as well. My friends have Verizon and their phones work normally everywhere, I don't know about 3G though.
Let's say that i was hiking a lot that weekend.
So AT&T stop crying and invest some money in equipment.

November 03 2009 at 10:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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