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Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Report: AT&T Sues Verizon for Ad Campaign

By Kathryn Glass

FOXBusiness

Telecom giant AT&T Inc. (T) filed a lawsuit against Verizon Wireless, jointly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), for its recent “There’s A Map For That” ad campaign, claiming the ad is misleading, according to reports.

The Verizon TV ads, which mock Apple, Inc.’s (AAPL) iPhone ads touting the smart phone’s many iPhone application features, display maps suggesting that AT&T’s third-generation high-speed network has large gaps in coverage.

"By communicating that AT&T customers have no coverage in large parts of the country, Verizon is misleading the public about an essential component of the services AT&T offers," the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting the lawsuit.

A Verizon Wireless spokesman told the Journal that the suit was without merit.

“Our ads clearly explain that non-3G coverage is available elsewhere,” spokesman Jim Gerace told the paper. “I think it's interesting that AT&T's chose to focus on the white areas and not the blues area of their map. We think it calls into question their own fastest 3G claim as the map clearly shows where 3G doesn't exist."

Shares of AT&T fell 23 cents or 0.90% in Tuesday’s session, closing at $25.36. Verizon’s stock fell 34 cents or 1.16%, to close at $29.07.

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