• Ad Age, Thursday, December 3, 2009 10:50 AM

AT&T is dropping its lawsuit that charges that Verizon's advertising was misleading consumers into thinking AT&T offers no service where it has no 3G network. Verizon, in turn, is dropping an earlier, if less well-covered, suit it filed against AT&T that sought a ruling to affirm the accuracy of Verizon claims, including "America's Most Reliable 3G Network," Rita Chang reports.

"It seemed like a no-win situation for AT&T," says Andrei Jezierski, a partner at marketing consultancy i2 Partners. "There's more than anecdotal evidence that there's issues with their network, and making a big issue of it is counterproductive." Spokespeople for both companies confirmed the developments but declined further comment.

Consumer Reports rankings released earlier in the week put Verizon first in customer satisfaction and AT&T dead last among 50,000 respondents in 26 cities, writes Aaron Baar in MediaPost's Marketing Daily. Verizon scored above average on every attribute, he writes.

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