Verizon responds to AT&T's Map For That lawsuit: 'the truth hurts'

Sure, Verizon's doubled down on the 3G map ads in response to AT&T's false advertising lawsuit, but eventually the company's lawyers had to file a response and, well, ain't nobody backing down in this one. Here's the freaking introduction:

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.

Yeah. It's gonna be like that. Verizon goes on to argue that even AT&T concedes the maps are accurate, and that pulling any of the ads off the air without proof that they're misleading consumers would be unfair, and that at the very least both parties need time to investigate further. Honestly? We've read it over a couple times now and while the legal arguments are certainly interesting, it's hard not to get the impression that Verizon drafted this response with publication in mind -- check out this quote:

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.

See what we mean? Now, we still think there's some merit to the idea that Verizon's ads improperly conflate 3G coverage area with 3G service quality, but that's really not what AT&T's arguing -- hell, it's busy pimping EDGE. We'll see if these two can solve their differences and get back to work, but we've got the feeling this thing ain't over yet.

Update: Here's the PDF, in case you're interested.

Verizon's response to AT&T: 'the truth hurts'

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2009 11:35AM]

You can have the best cell phone in the entire world but if you don't have the coverage to back it up, it's useless...just like AT&T.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2009 4:53PM]

Sigh for all you youngsters out there who think Verizon will buy up AT&T I have sad news. It will never happen. AT&T was forced in 1984 to sell off the section many of you know as Verizon. The reason for this being is because AT&T was a monopoly and owned basically any thing to do with phone service, from land lines, to internet, to the prototype cell phones. The government wont allow it to go that far again.

As for this whole argument over the maps, I believe it was a smart move on Verizons part to play out the ads like they have, in reality they are true but they imply things that arnt which should put them in the clear with this lawsuit. The thing people need o remember is the only real difference between 3G and 2G is 2G is circuit-switched, but 3G is packet-switched.