Ouch! That’s all I could say when I started reading Verizon’s response to the AT&T lawsuit that seeks to block Verizon’s “There’s a Map for That” advertisements. AT&T alleges that the ads are misleading, but in its court filings in response to the lawsuit, Verizon had this to say:
“AT&T (T) did not file this lawsuit because Verizon’s ‘There’s A Map For That’ advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon’s ads are true and the truth hurts.”
Verizon continues for 44 pages ridiculing the network on a point-by-point basis. A major Verizon contention is that while AT&T tries to bill itself as “The nation’s fastest 3G network,” the reality is they have not invested enough to compete with Big Red’s network reliability, coverage, and speed. (That’s a contention backed up by impartial parties). So their argument boils down to this: If AT&T wants to advertise something that’s not true (them being the fastest), they shouldn’t be allowed to block Verizon from advertising something that is true (their 3G coverage far outpaces AT&T).
The document goes on to say:
Remarkably, AT&T admits that the 3G coverage maps – the one thing common to all five ads – are accurate and that the ads’ express statement that Verizon has “5X More 3G Coverage” than AT&T is true. Nonetheless, AT&T asserts that Verizon’s ads about 3G coverage are “false and misleading” because they allegedly imply a message that confuses consumers regarding AT&T’s non-3G coverage.
AT&T claims that the advertisements are misleading; Verizon says that the real issue lies with AT&T’s failure to upgrade its 3G network in anticipation of smartphone adoption. Even if AT&T is granted a TRO to prevent the ads from being shown, this entire ordeal is going to be very embarrassing for AT&T.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
love it… just love it.
I'm a happy Verizon customer and an X ATT customer. ATT BLOWS… I've even managed to contact the upper management of verizon to get unfair policy changes made. Verizon is responsive to it's customers and their coverage with 3g (for smartphones) is awesome. I speak as a new droid owner so I know first hand. ATT needs to sit down and shut up.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
The sad byline – lowly little TMO at the bottom of the heap.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Looking at those 4 maps… Sprint should come out with the same commercials… They kill ATT too…LOL
Verizon Nukes them…
Sprint Kills them..
I am on ATT now… The only stopping me from moving over to Verizon or TMobile is a Android 2.0 HTC Sense phone… First one that gets it, gets me locked down for two years…