Telus' goats jump for joy as the company wins a favorable ruling in the B.C. courts over Rogers' "misleading" claims about network reliability

Ad wars over wireless data don’t just happen in the States.  Canadian providers have also been at each other over ad claims that just don’t tell consumers the whole story.  That’s the conclusion of a judge in British Columbia, who ruled that Rogers Communications’ wireless ads touting the provider as Canada’s “most reliable” are misleading.

In a court ruling Tuesday, the judge ruled in favor of a complaint lodged by Telus Communications that argued their wireless network was just as good as what Rogers had to offer.

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Rogers “Prove It – Foot Print” Ad touts “Canada’s fastest mobile network.” (30 seconds)

What is really at issue, once again, is the differences between two different wireless network standards.  Rogers beat Telus and Bell in upgrading its network to “High Speed Packet Access” technology, which has been marketed with more familiarity to consumers as “3G.”  Once Rogers launched the service, up went advertising promoting Rogers as the “fastest” and “most reliable” Canadian mobile provider.  Last month, Rogers was forced to drop the “fastest” claim, but has maintained it runs the most “reliable” network in the country.

Now that Telus upgraded their network, they wanted to know what justification Rogers had to claim that.  Telus eventually sued.

Justice Christopher Grauer found Telus had cause.

“The only basis Rogers ever had for making that representation was the comparison between its HSPA network and its competitors’ first-generation EVDO networks,” Grauer wrote in his decision. “Rogers’ representation nevertheless continues to be made. In these circumstances, I conclude that is misleading.”

“What is clear from the evidence before me is that the present network technology is at least equivalent between Rogers and Telus,” the judge wrote.

“The technological advantage that allowed Rogers to represent that it has Canada’s most reliable network has disappeared.”

“I conclude … that the balance of convenience favors the granting of an order restraining Rogers from continuing to represent, without appropriate qualification, that it provides ‘Canada’s most reliable network’.”

The case has some slight similarities to the Verizon-AT&T spat, if you took AT&T’s position in the case.  Rogers, in this case, promoted its 3G network before the others had networks of their own, and used language that suggested that 3G access provided enhanced reliability.  Once the competition also upgraded, Rogers simply added new fine print in their advertising touting that 3G was better than the older network standards their competitors had relied on up until earlier this month.

Rogers claims they are “perplexed” by the decision because they still believe they have the most reliable network.

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Rogers, “Canada’s most reliable network” doesn’t drop calls in elevators, according to this ad. (30 seconds)

There is no “good guy” in this story, however.  Once Bell upgraded their network on November 4th, they promptly began running commercials claiming they have Canada’s best network themselves.

Telus has the cutest… ads that is.  Nobody does cute quite like Telus.  Since 2001, the company has relied mostly on critters to sell their goods.  Among them: pot-bellied pigs, bunnies, tree frogs, monkeys, lizards, ducks, fish, hedgehogs, parrots, meerkats, and perhaps to celebrate their western Canadian roots, lots and lots of goats.

Watch the petting zoo, and some other Canadian wireless ads below:

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Leveraging their investment in Clearwire, a WiMax provider, Time Warner Cable on Monday announced it will officially launch the Time Warner Cable 4G Mobile Network in Dallas on December 1st. The first product to launch is Road Runner Mobile, which will essentially resell access to Clearwire for as low as $44.99 per month for Time Warner Cable customers. North Texas customers using the service can expect speeds up to 6Mbps.

“With Time Warner Cable’s 4G Mobile Network, we now offer the fastest mobile data service available,” said Barry Rosenblum, executive vice president of the Texas Region for Time Warner Cable. “We’re extending our reach outside of the home and giving our customers the convenience of mobility and the speed of 4G. Road Runner Mobile lets customers take their favorite Internet service wherever they go. This is an important part of our strategy to give our customers any content, on any device, anytime, anywhere.”

The launch literally echoes that planned in the Triad region of North Carolina, right down to the nearly word for word identical introductory quotes.

Customers face equipment fees, contracts typically extending two years, and usage caps on lower tier service.  Actual speeds vary considerably.  Consumers using Clearwire’s WiMax service have experienced problems using the service indoors, particularly in homes equipped with energy efficient windows.  It seems window coatings can block or reduce reception in certain cases.

On December 9, Time Warner Cable will host an exclusive event in Dallas at the House of Blues in celebration of the launch of Road Runner Mobile. The “Life in the 4G Fast Lane” event will feature an appearance by “The Fastest Woman in the World,” Indy Race Car superstar Danica Patrick. Along with being able to sample the service, guests will enjoy musical performances by Eagles tribute band, 7 Bridges, and Dallas’ own The King Bucks. A limited number of tickets will be available to the public leading up to the event.

North Texas residents can register to win $4,000 in the Life in the 4G Fast Lane Sweepstakes. One grand prize of $4,000 plus an HP Mini 311 Notebook will be awarded on December 9. An additional ten (10) HP Mini 311 Notebooks will be given away to 10 first prize winners.

Residents of Austin and San Antonio are expected to get access to Road Runner Mobile in early 2010.

Time Warner Cable also announced it would utilize the services of Brightpoint, a fulfillment house, to support the launch of Road Runner Mobile nationwide including wireless data card, accessory and collateral fulfillment and returns, triage and repairs.

Customers ordering products for Road Runner Mobile are likely to receive them shipped directly from Brightpoint, which will also manage customer returns and repairs.  Brightpoint is also known for supporting rebate programs and supplying retail locations with products from a variety of wireless equipment manufacturers.

Luke Wilson's blizzard of postcards

Luke Wilson is back for three more AT&T ads hitting back Verizon Wireless for its 3G map ads, and Apple has come running to AT&T’s defense with two new ads of its own.

The theme?  AT&T’s GSM network lets subscribers talk and browse the web at the same time.  Verizon Wireless’ CDMA network does not.  For that matter, neither does Sprint, which also uses CDMA, but as a non-combatant gets a pass for this round.

Mobile phone networks in the United States primarily use GSM (AT&T, T-Mobile) or CDMA (Verizon Wireless, Sprint, MetroPCS, U.S. Cellular, Cricket) technology.  Because of the way the two standards developed, GSM can permit a customer to talk while also concurrently using mobile data services.  CDMA users must choose one or the other.

The new round of ads exploit that difference.  How important that distinction is depends on how you use your phone.  If you frequently use your AT&T phone to web browse while also speaking to someone on that phone, you would likely find Verizon Wireless’ limitation irritating.  If you don’t, you won’t care.

More importantly, it’s a moot point if you find yourself in one of AT&T’s older EDGE network areas, which predominate outside of major cities.  The EDGE standard doesn’t let you talk and browse at the same time either.

Broadband Reports notes “it seems like AT&T might just be better served by not talking anymore, and just focusing on getting tower sites and backhaul links upgraded. How many upgraded cell sites would Luke Wilson’s salary have paid for? How many backhaul links could have been upgraded with the money spent suing Verizon? Fixing the capacity and coverage issues that have been plaguing AT&T would do more than any ad campaign.”

Apple’s “me too” ads promote the same concurrent use of phone and data applications on the iPhone, but also ignore the pesky fact that those stuck in AT&T’s vast EDGE network will discover it’s a distinction without a difference.

Watch all five ads below.

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AT&T Mobility wanted Verizon Wireless to stop showing ads that call out the differences between the two wireless competitors’ national 3G networks.  When Verizon didn’t, AT&T sued.  This week Verizon Wireless doubles down with three new holiday season ads that are guaranteed to enrage AT&T even further.

Anyone who has seen a Rankin/Bass holiday special will instantly recognize at least one of the ads is a play on the Island of Misfit Toys, seen in the 1964 holiday classic Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

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Verizon Wireless – “The Island of Misfit Toys” (30 seconds)

AT&T accuses Verizon Wireless of misrepresenting its national data coverage by showing non-3G areas in white, a color AT&T says traditionally represents no service at all.  AT&T says its wireless data network, in its entirety, is more expansive than Verizon’s.  Verizon counters its ads only compare 3G coverage, and clearly label the maps as such, including a fine print disclaimer indicating “voice and data services available outside 3G coverage area.”

AT&T further argues watching frustrated consumers shaking their phones or sitting alone because they were unable to meet up with their friends would suggest to a casual viewer they weren’t able to access any service.

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Verizon Wireless – “Blue Christmas” is sure to draw the ire of AT&T as a frustrated father visibly shakes his iPhone and never seems to be able to use it. (30 seconds)

Verizon Wireless’ attorneys officially responded to the AT&T request for a temporary restraining order to pull the ads off the air with a direct opening: “AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon’s ‘There’s A Map For That’ advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon’s ads are true and the truth hurts.”

The attorneys argue, “Remarkably, AT&T admits that the 3G coverage maps — the one thing that is common to all five ads — are accurate and that the ads’ express statement that Verizon has ‘5X More 3G Coverage’ than AT&T is true.”

AT&T has been one of the loudest voices in this advertising battle, spending many millions of dollars to market its 3G network as the “Nation’s Fastest 3G Network” and, with its exclusive partner Apple, naming the latest iPhone (only available on AT&T’s network) the “iPhone 3GS.”

The stark truth, as revealed by the concededly accurate coverage maps in Verizon’s advertising, is that the geographic reach of AT&T’s 3G network is far less extensive than AT&T would have the public believe — and far less extensive than Verizon’s 3G network. Consumers who are interested in smartphones have a strong interest in knowing the comparative 3G coverage offered by Verizon and AT&T.  Cutting off the free flow of information about Verizon’s more extensive 3G coverage would harm consumers in a way that could not be redressed.  And because injury to First Amendment rights is by definition irreparable, suppressing Verizon’s speech on an “emergency” basis before a definitive and fair adjudication would irreparably injure Verizon and its goodwill in addition to costing Verizon customers. Any harm to AT&T, in contrast, is merely speculative.

In the final analysis, AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon’s side-by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T’s confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business, and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly. AT&T may not like the message that the ads send, but this Court should reject its efforts to silence the messenger.

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Verizon Wireless – “Elves” includes the line “good luck browsing the web with that one.” (30 seconds)

AT&T has gone all out to find confused consumers to back up their request for a temporary restraining order, running a survey asking ordinary cell phone users what they thought Verizon Wireless’ ads meant.  But Verizon Wireless answers the survey wasn’t limited to smartphone customers, who are already well aware of the differences between 3G and older, slower speed data networks, and for that reason the results are invalid.

Verizon Wireless says it will continue the aggressive campaign beyond the all-important holiday season, when cell phone handset sales are at some of their highest traditional levels.

Regulating mobile broadband data usage on a constrained network has posed a challenge for mobile broadband providers that can’t always easily expand their networks to accommodate growing demand.  As mobile broadband providers work with the frequency allocations they have either been assigned or won through airwave auctions, simply adding more capacity by using additional frequencies isn’t always possible.  So most providers have increasingly turned to usage allowances to artificially control demand on their existing networks.

Who wins the next round of spectrum auctions sets us up for the mobile broadband chicken and egg scenario.  Providers cannot bid the enormous dollar amounts these auctions routinely command without revenue from customers craving access.  Customers aren’t about to commit paying even more for mobile broadband service that, in the United States, is almost universally limited to five gigabytes of consumption per month.  Finding ways to attract new customers who have been resistant to the current pricing of mobile broadband service could provide a source for additional revenue.

But as far as consumers are concerned, the current model of “usage allowances” combined with punishing overlimit penalties is extremely unpopular, and will keep many potential customers away.

Camiant, which helps create and manage traffic management solutions for broadband networks, today announced the findings of its latest study, “Rethinking Mobile Broadband Data Rate Plans.”  Although some of the study was no doubt designed to help sell the case for Camiant’s product line devoted to “intelligent” network management and quota systems, it provides important insight into the European mobile broadband market.

The conclusion: Europeans don’t like Internet Overcharging schemes either.

In fact, when the 263 survey respondents using plug-in mobile broadband modems in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden were asked about their preferences for various rate plans, the key finding was consumers don’t like ‘Cap + Overage’ style rate plans.  Among their concerns:

• 62% didn’t know what their usage cap was;
• 76% didn’t know how much data they actually used;
• 39% didn’t know what happened if they went over the usage cap;
• 45% were very/moderately concerned about exceeding the cap.

When presented with four alternative rate plan structures and asked their preference — “Cap + Overage” was least preferred by consumers.  ‘None of the above’ was not an option, so those surveyed chose the plan most acceptable under the parameters of the study.  The result showed almost half wanted unlimited service, and just over one-third wanted to pay less for a plan with an allowance, but one that wouldn’t empty their wallets if they happened to exceed the limit:

Many users were willing to pay additional fees beyond the base subscription for potential “extras”:

• 43% of all respondents would pay €5 in addition to base plan for unlimited usage of one specific application. Of those that were interested, 90% said it was important that they select the application.
• 45% of respondents interested in a service that might provide lower speed at some point said they would be willing to pay between €1 and €3 for on-demand higher speed “for a short duration (e.g. 1 hour).”

“It’s becoming very clear that network operators need to offer a wider range of package options to users of mobile data users,” said Graham Finnie, Chief Analyst at Heavy Reading. “This study provides strong evidence that end users are willing to consider a range of alternatives to conventional usage management schemes.”

Some similar studies and focus groups being conducted in the United States testing additional rate plan options, most of which carrying a lower usage cap and lower pricing.  Many of the private studies are including the dreaded ‘I wouldn’t buy any of these plans because they are all too expensive for what you get’ option to determine if consumers are simply going to continue turning their noses up at overpriced data plans.

Mobile broadband growth at the $60 for five gigabytes price level has been accepted by the on-the-go traveler or business person dreading hotel Internet connection fees, but have been difficult to sell to occasional users, residential customers, or those who consider the price out of line for the amount of access it includes.  Most of these types of customers rely on free or reduced price wi-fi instead.

With 49% of survey respondents looking for unlimited plan options at reasonable prices, and most of the rest looking for a lower price with some limitations, today’s American mobile broadband pricing platform charging high prices for highly limited service is the worst of both worlds for consumers.