- Related Stories
-
Verizon shows off its future tech
November 1, 2007 -
Verizon technology chief talks fiber
July 6, 2007 - Related Blogs
-
Verizon to the FCC: Make cable play nice
March 26, 2008 -
Verizon's spectrum plans: Speedier wireless broadband
April 4, 2008
Verizon said Time Warner Cable's TV ads falsely imply that Verizon's Fios video service requires a satellite dish, that it does not include phone, broadband and video, and that Time Warner's network is better, in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
"We feel the lawsuit is without merit and we look forward to defending against it in the appropriate venue," Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley said.
Phone companies AT&T and Verizon have been developing video services to help them compete better with cable companies Comcast and Time Warner, which also sell phone and Web services as well as television.
Verizon cited a commercial that started airing on March 3 in the lawsuit and said it was the fourth commercial and "most egregiously false" version of an ad that Time Warner Cable, more than 80 percent-owned by Time Warner, started airing around the end of June 2007.
It said it was entitled to an injunction barring Time Warner Cable from running the ads and for a requirement that the cable company issue ads retracting the claims made in the previous ads. It said it was also looking for damages, including lost profits and a recovery of attorney's fees.
Time Warner Cable's ads are causing it "immediate and irreparable harm" by attacking the quality and reliability of its network, according to the suit.
"Once customers choose Time Warner over Verizon Fios, switching costs, inertia, and the perceived inconvenience of switching providers keep many customers from changing," according to the lawsuit.
In January, Verizon said it had signed up 1 million Fios subscribers, two and a half years after it first started offering the service. Time Warner Cable said it ended 2007 with 13.3 million basic video subscribers.
Story Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- More from News.com on this story's topics
Video
Advertising
Lawsuits
Cable
- Uneducated consumers
- The sad thing (sometimes) with America, is that the consumer is bound to know nothing, zilch, zero. We are all ruled by the smallest denominating factor, in marketing lingo meaning the most stupid, uneducated. uninterested consumer. His/hers lack of interest in how he/she is spending his/her money is to rule how the rest of us can procure products and services. As much as I understand Verizon's claim against Time Warner, if consumers were just a little bit more interested and hence educated, just a little bit, they'd know that Time Warner's comments regarding Verizon service were totally without merit, and just a part of an ongoing battle between service providers. A battle for the consumer's wallet! So, as in any other purchase decision, be it cable/internet service, milk, or a new automobile, a better educated customers is bound to make a better purchasing decision. We can not really blaim Toyota for claiming that GM does not manaufacture any red cars, can we? The consumers has to go out and figure out what is true and what is not. Why are we constantly being ruled by the most stupid people? The only ones that are happy, are the lawyers and others involved in litigation and class action suits. They win EVERY time, regardless of the outcome in a consumer perspective. Amd who pays these lawyers and "middle men"? We do, the consumers, since it is ALWAYS the consumer who pays.
- Reply to this comment View reply
- Actually
- Here in the NE Fios used dish networks for video and still do in most areas since they haven't rolled out their video service yet. Cox comm has the same ads rolling yet you don't see Verizon saying anything about it to them.
- Reply to this comment
Unlimited long distance $24.99/mo