socialmedian: AT&T Suing Verizon Because "Map" Ad Is Confusing to Dumb People (and Lawyers) [Cellphones]

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AT&T Suing Verizon Because "Map" Ad Is Confusing to Dumb People (and Lawyers) [Cellphones]

Source: Gizmodo

Nov 03, 2009

Summary

A Verizon Wireless ad shows a beefy Verizon 3G map next to a less impressive AT&T 3G map. AT&T is suing, saying it leads people to believe AT&T has no phone service outside of its (admittedly skimpier) 3G areas.

Now, the ad focuses on 3G alone, and the discussion is about 3G services, including video. But the charge AT&T makes is that people who watch the ad are being deliberately led to thinking that in the white spaces, there's no AT&T phone service at all. Here's the accusation:

Consumers are interpreting the white or blank space on the maps to mean that AT&T customers who are not in an AT&T "3G" coverage area have no wireless coverage whatsoever, and therefore have no ability to use their wireless devices for any purposes in vast areas of the country. This interpretation is not surprising as Verizon, in its own coverage maps, uses white space to inform customers that no coverage of any kind exists.

The thing is, this is somewhat tricky to prove, but it sounds wrong. There are areas of Verizon voice coverage that are not marked as red in the map in the c

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