AT&T files lawsuit against T-Mobile’s marketing campaign targeting seniors

Last week, T-Mobile snapped shots of AT&T and Verizon’s respective offers to people age 55 or older, and now AT&T is fighting back. On Tuesday, the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier announced it had filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile in federal court in Texas.

“T-Mobile’s claims are flatly dishonest and completely untrue. This is not the first time they have released misleading information,” said Fletcher Cook, vice president of corporate communications for AT&T, in a statement. press release accompanying the file.

Cook’s statement adds that AT&T “offers discounts on wireless service to people of all ages, including seniors in all 50 states. The only way to stop the lying carrier is apparently in court, and c that’s where we are.”

This is a marketing campaign T-Mobile launched August 30 to tout its superior plans over those of its rivals, with each having specific plans available to those living in Florida. T-Mobile offered a number of options in the press release, including the idea of ​​creating a virtual mailbox in Florida through its “BannedSeniors.comor connect with a real estate agent to buy land in the state. He also plugged in his Essentials, Magenta and Magenta Max 55 Plus plans, which he says are available nationwide.

AT&T appears to have disputed the stunt, noting in the filing that it has a partnership with AARP to offer a discount in all 50 states to the group’s “nearly 38 million members.”

In the lawsuit, AT&T claims that T-Mobile’s “false and misleading descriptions and representations of fact have deceived and are likely to deceive consumers into, among other things, purchasing services from T-Mobile instead of AT&T, by wrongfully and illegally transferring revenue and profits from AT&T to T-Mobile.”

It adds that T-Mobile’s “false and misleading statements regarding its own and AT&T’s goods, services and business activities have damaged the goodwill and reputation of AT&T and are likely to impact AT&T sales”.

AT&T called for a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages and “a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining T-Mobile’s ongoing false and misleading advertising.”

CNET has contacted T-Mobile for comment and will update if they respond.