Sprint (NYSE:S) has filed a lawsuit against AT&T (NYSE:T) as the former claims that the latter is falsely advertising the connectivity on its devices as being 5G Evolution, when in fact they have not updated their technology as of yet.
While other carriers decided to ignore AT&T’s decision to begin branding and advertising its phones and networks as having “5G Evolution” technology, Sprint is suing the carrier, which actually have 4G LTE Advanced technology on their fold. The lawsuit was filed in federal court as Sprint seeks an injunction that would stop AT&T from using the 5GE tags on its mobile devices or its marketing strategies.
Sprint claims that AT&T’s decision is hurting it brand as the company commissioned a survey that revealed roughly 54% of consumers believe that the “5GE” networks are either the same as 5G or better. Meanwhile, 43% of respondents said that they believe buying an AT&T phone today will give them access to 5G connectivity, despite neither of these things being genuine.
Sprint also says that AT&T’s decision to brand itself in this way has damaged the reputation of 5G connectivity, a the latter is working towards building a “legitimate early entry into the 5G network space.”
T stock fell a fraction of a percentage following the news of the Sprint lawsuit, while S shares gained about 0.3% Friday.
