‘Best Network’ Preps Employees for AT&T vs. Verizon Lawsuit Inquiries

AT&T sued Verizon over some recent commercials and quickly sent out a memo with talking points for employees who are asked about the lawsuit. MobileCrunch published the entire memo soon after and it’s an interesting read. I typically don’t like negative technology ads, but the “There’s a Map for That” campaign hits home for a lot of us iPhone users.

Apparently, consumers don’t understand what 3G coverage is:

Independent research shows that the maps in the advertisements mislead consumers into believing that we do not offer any wireless service in the vast majority of the country. In fact, AT&T’s 2.5G EDGE network covers 1.75 million square miles of the United States, reaching some 296 million people, roughly the same number reached by Verizon’s network.

Here’s a preview of what you’ll hear if you ask your friendly AT&T rep about the lawsuit :

How should I respond to customers who ask about the lawsuit?

While we cannot speculate on the complaint filed, it is a great opportunity to remind customers of AT&T’s many advantages that over 81 million customers enjoy, including:

* Best Network
* The best coverage worldwide (More Bars in More PlacesTM).
* The nation’s fastest 3G network and the only national 3G carrier providing simultaneous voice and data usage.
* The most devices that work in the most places including Japan and South Korea (3G 2100 MHz device required).
* The nation’s largest wireless and wireline broadband provider.
* The nation’s largest company-owned and operated WiFi network with more than 20,000 hotspots, including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Barnes and Noble, as well as access to over 120,000 hotspots around the world.

I’m not sure how AT&T defines ‘Best Network,’ but it sure wasn’t the best network last night when it dropped eight consecutive calls before my mom finally picked up. I could hear her, but she couldn’t hear me. I had to hunt down my cordless phone and call her via Comcast’s VOIP service. It’s certainly not the ‘Best Network’ when I need to get online, but find a little round dot at the top of my iPhone’s display instead of an EDGE or 3G symbol. Maybe someone should file a lawsuit against AT&T for misleading customers into believing that they can consistently place calls and get online. Maybe not all of San Francisco’s 49 square miles figure into AT&T’s 1.75 million square mile count?