AT&T and Verizon make amends for the holidays

Your map is weak, but let's be friends

While watching the nation’s two largest carriers enter into a silly legal battle, most customers have been wondering whether they should be fixing their networks instead. AT&T initially tried to sue Verizon for its “There’s a map for that” ads, claiming that the ads were deceiving customers into believing that AT&T had little to no coverage at all. Of course, everyone knew the truth: the maps in the ads were strictly for 3G coverage and Verizon wasn’t telling any lies. Verizon decided to fire back at AT&T and tried to have its claims of America’s “most reliable network” shut down. The two carriers have been going at it for a few weeks now, but the feud between AT&T and Verizon has come to a grinding halt. Are they feeling the holiday spirit?

The carriers have agreed to stop with the nonsense and dismiss the lawsuits, but I’m wondering how long this truce will last. Neither AT&T or Verizon have given cause for the sudden dismissals, but I can only imagine that they both finally realized that it wasn’t getting them anywhere.

As an AT&T customer, I’ve been perfectly happy with my service in coverage; I guess I happen to be in an area where it isn’t as bad as the more condensed cities. (I’m in Los Angeles and everything here is really spread out.) Although prices are high, I can say I’m generally happy with my carrier. Still, all the Verizon ads had me laughing my ass off. My favorite one shows the maps blocking a TV screen showing a football game, while the iPhone user says, “Is my map in the way?” The other man’s response, “No, no, you’re good,” was so natural and hilarious.

Although the feud is over for now, I’d say that Verizon really came out with the upper hand. Its attacks on AT&T’s network were met with weak rebuttals and lawsuits that made AT&T more of a laughing stock for bitter customers. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if any of the attacks resume once the Christmas cheer subsides.

[Via BusinessInsider]