| Cingular Wireless Gets Sued; Refutes Claims; Plans Copuntersuit |
|---|
The claims, made by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
and filed on behalf of seven plaintiffs, are "completely without
merit, and just a lie" said Joaquin Carbonell, Cingular's general counsel.
The foundation filed its lawsuit on Thursday in federal court in
Seattle charging that Cingular reneged on its promise to provide AT&T
Wireless customers with new and better services. Cingular bought AT&T
Wireless for 41ドル billion in October 2004.
Instead, Cingular "immediately began dismantling and degrading the
AT&T network, forcing AT&T customers to move to Cingular's cell
network," the foundation said.
Cingular then forced AT&T customers to pay 18ドル to transfer or upgrade
their service to its wireless network, and charged others 175ドル early
termination fee if they tried to switch to another company, the group
said.
"Others who didn't want to pay or couldn't afford the fees have been
stuck with riding out their contract with AT&T Wireless while
suffering poor to no reception," the group said in a statement.
The lawsuit says that "the amount in controversy" exceeds 5ドル million,
and that the plaintiffs are seeking triple that amount in damages.
Cingular said it is considering its options including filing a
counter-suit.
Cingular said it spent nearly 10ドル billion to integrate and improve its
networks over 21 months since the merger was completed.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.
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