With its Wi-Fi phone service ready, Cablevision is protecting its new venture by suing Verizon over false Wi-Fi advertising claims.
The cable company today filed suit in federal court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging Verizon is making false and misleading claims about its Wi-Fi service being faster than Cablevision’s.
In a press release, Cablevision points out that Verizon does not have a public Wi-Fi network and claims that Verizon’s in-home routers are not faster than Cablevision’s Optimum Smart Routers, which Cablevision also says cost less than Verizon’s routers.
Cablevision accuses Verizon of making false claims in its advertising about Wi-Fi just as Cablevision is launching its all-Wi-Fi mobile phone service, running on the company’s 1.1 million public hotspots. Cablevision says its service will allow consumers to “avoid Verizon’s data caps and excessive data overage fees.”
“This is yet another in a long line of Verizon advertising falsehoods designed to fool the public and we are calling on the court to stop Verizon. Cablevision is taking this legal action so that consumers will no longer be misled and can make informed decisions based on the facts,” Cablevision wrote in a statement.
Verizon called out Cablevision for using the suit to promote Freewheel.
“We have not the seen the lawsuit but this is a boldface ploy to promote Cablevision’s latest wireless gambit. A third party has tested and validated the FiOS Quantum Gateway Router. It offers the fastest in-home Wi-Fi available from any provider. As usual, Cablevision is confusing consumers by using an apples to oranges comparison, in this case of in-home and public Wi-Fi,” Verizon said in an emailed statement.
This is not the first court battle between the two companies. Cablevision sued Verizon in 2011 over claims the carrier made regarding its Verizon FiOS service. The suit was eventually dropped after Verizon agreed to change certain aspects of its marketing message.
Filed Under: Carriers
