Verizon Wireless Responds To AT&T’s 3G Coverage Lawsuit: ‘The Truth Hurts’

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Verizon Wireless Responds To AT&T’s 3G Coverage Lawsuit: ‘The Truth Hurts’

Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) has responded to AT&T’s request for a temporary restraining order against Verizon’s 3G coverage commercials—and uses the opportunity to attack AT&T’s network quality even further.

On the seventh page of the 53-page legal document, Verizon Wireless writes: “AT&T (NYSE: 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.” The document was filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, and was emailed to reporters by Verizon’s public relations manager this evening. Further down in the document, Verizon claims even loftier rights, such as the first amendment and says the “court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger.”

Verizon argues that AT&T’s request for a temporary restraining order should be denied because Verizon should receive at least 90 days “to conduct discovery on the factual issues underlying AT&T’s motion.” Of course, 90 days would get Verizon through the holiday period, which is gearing up to be the biggest smartphone sales bonanza in history. Last week, an AT&T spokesman said if consumers don’t believe they can make calls in the vast majority of the country,” as they enter the holiday season, “that could do us irreparable harm.”

The beef isn’t about whether AT&T actually does have a smaller 3G footprint than Verizon. Rather, AT&T is arguing that the ads are misleading because they imply that AT&T doesn’t have any coverage where AT&T’s 3G network is non-existent.

In the document, Verizon claims its 3G network covers five times more of the U.S. than AT&T’s 3G network, which sounds a bit on the high side. Last week, AT&T released a fact sheet that said “recent ads from Verizon are so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&T’s wireless data coverage.” However, if the two companies are telling the truth, it does appear AT&T’s 3G network covers fewer people. It says it reaches 233 million people, and Verizon says its 3G network is available to 284 million people.

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Tricia Duryee

@triciad Nov 16, 2009 10:46 PM ET

Photo: Erictric

Posted In: Legal, Mobile, Companies, AT&T, Verizon

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Something tells me Verizon wouldn’t have done this if they had any chance of getting the iphone next year. Yes, AT&T sucks, but would have Verizon been able to handle the explosion in data requirements of the iphone any better? Doubtful. The iphone is 4 percent of market but it’s using 50 percent of AT&T bandwidth. I doubt any carrier could or would be able to handle the crush in demand.
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Verizon Dominates 318

AT&T sucks so much! They have a slower and smaller network, but for some reason they see the need to cry to courts when Verizon smacks them in the face with it. They need to do one of two things: 1. suck it up and stop crying for breast milk or 2. actually devote some of that commercial budget to building a better network.

Verizon wireless SUCKS!! WHY IS YA CHOOSING VERIZON OVER AT&T?? AT&T IS THE MOST FASTEST 3G NETWORK!!! AND PLUS AT&T IS A GREAT PHONE COMPANY U CAN USE
1-MOST FASTEST 3G NETWORK
2-U CAN TALK ON THE PHONE & USE THE WEB AT THE SAME TIME!
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AND THESE ARE THE REASON YOU SHOULD SAY NO TO VERIZON WIRELESS
1-THEY SUCK

2-THEY MIGHT HAVE THE LARGEST 3D NETWORK,BUT NOT AS FAST AS AT&T

3-THEY PHONE BILL IS VERY HIGH

REMEMBER SAY NO TO VERIZON!!

Gerald Jones

I think the answer to this problem lies in customers. There are many customers that don't have a problem with AT&T's coverage but there are others depending on their location are not experiencing true 3g speed and have calls dropped more than they would like. This is a touchy subject.

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joe

I used to have ATT and had to switch to Verizon because of two reasons. The first reason was that there was absolutely NO coverage whatsoever, where Verizon has coverage. The second reason was because ATT claimed to have 3G coverage in where I live, but my iPhone would lose calls continuously. Then that whole ad campaign came out where ATT claimed to have "The fewest dropped calls, blah, blah, blah." Bottom line is that I hope that Verizon can crush ATT this holiday shopping season.

James _ Florida

To bad every thinks 3G is the same its like comparing apples to oranges and calling it all fruit. VZ is tapped out of speed with thier old version of 3G while ATT can push speeds 4-5 times faster than VZ and only on T network can you talk and surf or email at the same time. I wish someone with a little knowledge of both business and technology would explain this…..... As for coverage T's network still has EDGE and GPRS to cover 303 million people and can be used in Europe and otherparts of the world try that with a VZ phone.