T-Mobile Countersuing AT&T for False Ads
Verizon and T-Mobile agreed to drop a separate advertising case in New York
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2026 – T-Mobile is suing AT&T for false advertising, alleging AT&T is guilty of many of the same practices it accused T-Mobile of in a lawsuit last month.
“Even as it presses those accusations, AT&T is itself engaged in a ‘pattern and practice’ of advertising that uses the very same tactics that AT&T claims are false and misleading when employed by its competitors,” wrote Hallie Levin, an attorney representing T-Mobile. “If those practices render any T-Mobile advertisement false and misleading, then AT&T’s advertising is equally false and misleading.”
The advertising practices at issue included advertising savings comparing promo rates to T-Mobile’s own standard rates, disclosing certain terms in fine print, and not implementing some recommendations from the ad industry’s self-regulatory body.
In a counterclaim filed Friday, T-Mobile argued AT&T does the same things. An AT&T spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“By AT&T’s own logic, AT&T’s use of advertising tactics that it claims are misleading when used by others demonstrates that AT&T ‘knows what it is doing is wrong,’” T-Mobile wrote.
In its false advertising lawsuit last month, AT&T had pointed out that T-Mobile had submitted a complaint against Charter over practices it alleged T-Mobile also used.
AT&T also said T-Mobile made misleading comparisons between its and AT&T’s prices, something T-Mobile denied.
Telecom companies frequently complain about each other's advertising claims before BBB National Program’s National Advertising Division, a self-regulatory body that adjudicates ad disputes among companies.
AT&T sued the body last year when NAD said one of its ads bashing T-Mobile ran afoul of its rules, but later dropped the case.
The current dispute with T-Mobile, being litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, stemmed from an online switching tool from T-Mobile. AT&T had alleged the tool improperly scraped customer account data; T-Mobile denied breaking any laws, but a judge shut down the practice.
AT&T also sued Charter for false advertising last month. The carrier said the cable company shouldn’t be allowed to call its broadband service “fiber-powered.” AT&T had also complained about the claim to NAD.
Verizon drops suit
Also on Friday, Verizon dropped a separate advertising lawsuit against T-Mobile in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The companies said in a short filing they had agreed to end the suit.
Verizon and T-Mobile both declined to comment.
Like AT&T, Verizon had accused T-Mobile of misleading consumers about how much they could save by switching to the company. T-Mobile responded similarly to the AT&T case, by denying the allegations and filing its own lawsuit against Verizon for false advertising.
A judge had partially sided with Verizon, blocking T-Mobile from making some of the savings claims at issue in March.
The carriers didn’t say why they agreed to drop their suits, but had been in settlement talks since May according to previous filings.
