A $10.25 million settlement has been procured by attorneys general from wireless carriers in 50 jurisdictions, including premier states such as California, Texas, New York, and Florida, among others. This settlement had been derived from three multistate settlements and encompasses major carriers such as AT&T Mobility LLC, Cricket Wireless LLC, T-Mobile USA Inc., Cellco Partnership (trading as Verizon Wireless), and TracFone Wireless Inc. Find more details here.
The settlement follows investigations into alleged deceptive and misleading advertising practices by these carriers. These deceptive practices particularly involve instances of ‘unlimited’ data plans which contained undisclosed restrictions and devices being marketed as ‘free’ when in reality, they were saddled with complex terms and conditions. As California Attorney General Rob Bonta pointed out, many advertised cellphone deals proved to be “too good to be true”.
These settlements serve as a potent reminder to corporate legal practitioners across the globe of the importance of striking a balance between persuasive advertising and the responsibility to uphold transparency in communicating terms of service to consumers.