AT&T And Verizon Settle Map Flap

The internetnews.com site reports that AT&T and Verizon have settled their unfair competition suit. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The case arose last month when AT&T filed a suit alleging that Verizon’s “There’s a map for that” campaign was misleading. The Verizon ads showed maps comparing Verizon’s 3g coverage to AT&T’s. The Verizon ads showed coverage virtually throughout the United States, while the AT&T map showed much more limited coverage. AT&T complained that the ads made it appear that AT&T offered no coverage in the blank areas. In fact, AT&T subscribers generally can make calls and connect to the Internet in those areas, they just need to use the 2.5G EDGE network. AT&T has launched an aggressive counter campaign with actor Luke Wilson. It is not entirely clear whether side will continue with the advertising, although, anecdotally, I have continued to see both campaigns. In all, it’s probably best to let the market sort things out, no matter how tired we get of seeing Luke Wilson.