AT&T will drop its lawsuit against rival Verizon Wireless after a U.S. District court for the Northern District of Georgia judge didn't issue an injunction in AT&T's favor.
Both companies had their attorneys dismiss the lawsuits against one another, as they move on from a rather tumultuous past 30 days. Neither side said why the legal matter is over -- for now -- but agreed to limit their public spat to avoid having to go to court again.
Last month, AT&T sued Verizon over what it believed were "misleading" advertisements that criticized the company's unimpressive nationwide 3G service. However, the judge ruled the ads, which could be considered "sneaky," did not mislead wireless subscribers, while the ads also didn't indicate the service didn't work outside certain areas.
The ad showed a map of the United States with 3G coverage areas noted by both companies -- Verizon, shown in red, had a much larger coverage area than AT&T, which was shown in blue.
Here's the map shown in the Verizon commercial:
If the two sides didn't drop their legal proceedings, they would have been due back in court on Dec. 16.
Despite being the only wireless provider in the United States to offer the popular Apple iPhone, AT&T ranks last in customer satisfaction. Instead of wasting time in court bickering with Verizon, AT&T must now focus on fixing its 3G problems -- before T-Mobile, or another competitor, ends up getting the iPhone.
