Judge Grants Verizon Request to Block T-Mobile Ads Targeting Switchers
AT&T and T-Mobile are engaged in a separate lawsuit over the issue.
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2026 – A federal judge granted Verizon's request Monday to block competing wireless carrier T-Mobile from promising customers they can save more than $1,000 per year if they switch.
“Competition in the cellular service market is intense and in some ways zero-sum. Each provider wants for itself as many customers as it can get,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote. “Advertisements get faster, flashier, and (sometimes) funnier. But this legitimate competition and innovation cannot come at the expense of truthfulness and accuracy.”
Verizon had sued T-Mobile over ads claiming people would save more than $1,000 per year if they switch to T-Mobile from another carrier. Verizon accused T-Mobile of comparing its promotional prices to Verizon’s non-promo prices.
Kaplan was convinced of that, calling the comparison “apples-to-oranges” and agreeing with Verizon that the annual savings based on T-Mobile’s prices were closer to $230. He also wrote T-Mobile’s price lock of five years didn’t extend to some extra plan benefits like its direct-to-cell satellite service with Starlink.
T-Mobile had countersued Verizon, alleging Verizon’s own ads touting $420 annual savings for switchers was misleading. T-Mobile did not seek an injunction preventing Verizon from running the ads.
A Verizon spokesperson said in an email: “Facts matter. And so does truth in advertising.”
T-Mobile said in a statement that “We disagree with the preliminary ruling and will continue to stand behind and vigorously defend our advertising. The challenged ads accurately and transparently show the value included in our Better Value plan that Verizon customers would have to pay extra to receive.”
Cable operator Charter actually guarantees customers they’ll save $1,000 annually over the three major carriers if they take broadband and two mobile lines. The cable giants’ mobile services, offered through deals with Verizon, have been competing with the carriers and accounted for 33 percent of phone net adds in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The major wireless carriers and ISPs regularly complain about each other’s advertisements.
AT&T and T-Mobile are embroiled in a separate lawsuit over a similar issue – after suing over a T-Mobile app aimed at making switching easier, AT&T is now also claiming that T-Mobile’s $1,000 annual savings claims are misleading for reasons similar to Verizon.
Earlier this month T-Mobile was unsuccessful in appealing a negative finding from BBB National Programs’s National Advertising Division related to its direct-to-cell service. The complaint was brought by AT&T.
AT&T also sued that ad industry watchdog last year, arguing its rules should only be binding in certain instances or potentially not at all. The company dropped the suit after NAB retracted a cease-and-desist letter and stopped opposing networks airing an AT&T ad that it had previously found to be in violation of its rules.
Last week NAD ruled Charter had to better disclose when its home broadband service was provided by hybrid fiber-coaxial cable rather than fiber. The complaint was brought by AT&T, which competes with cable companies via its fiber and fixed wireless broadband offerings.
AT&T OneConnect
AT&T also introduced a new slate of bundled fixed and mobile broadband plans it’s dubbing OneConnect.
The major ISPs are trying to push those bundled services as a means of keeping customers around longer. They say subscribing to both home and mobile broadband makes customers less likely to switch to another provider.
AT&T’s OneConnect plans are offered to new fiber customers, although the carrier also provides fixed wireless broadband.
Update: This story was updated to include a comment from T-Mobile
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