AT&T Fires Back at Verizon in Customer Letter

AT&T is turning to its own customers in efforts to defend itself against a new series of ads from Verizon.

In a new letter to its customers, AT&T says it wants to set the record straight about the ads showing maps comparing the two companies’ wireless coverage. The map depicting AT&T’s coverage shows large portions of the country that appear to be not covered by the company, which AT&T claims is blatantly false.

AT&T last week sued Verizon, wanting those ads pulled from the airwaves. Just this week, the company amended its suit, asking for another new Verizon ad to be pulled. This one lambasts the iPhone by putting an animated version of the device in the famous Island of Misfit Toys from the well-known Rudolph TV special.

AT&T's letter to customers says its network reaches 97 percent of the country and calls its 3G network the nation’s fastest. It throws in one Verizon comparison, saying AT&T’s smartphones are more popular.

But are the lawsuit and the letter enough? Perhaps a down-and-dirty commercial war is in the near future.