The National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs has found that a claim made by Verizon in a commercial about the company’s public safety offering is supported.
The action was taken in a Fast-Track SWIFT. These are expedited challenges brought to NAD for single issue advertising cases.
The challenge was lodged by AT&T Services Inc. It focused on a claim in a commercial for the Verizon Frontline service that said that “Verizon is the number one network choice in public safety.” Verizon Frontline is the carrier’s dedicated wireless network for first responders and public safety personnel.
NAD found that the claim that Frontline is the choice of more public safety agencies than its competitors is supported by comparative market share data. Moreover, NAD found that the statement by Verizon did not conflate that market share claim with a claim that its performance was superior.
It’s easy to understand why AT&T protested Verizon’s claim, considering the investment that AT&T has made in the FirstNet public safety network. It would also be useful to know if NAD looked at recent public safety telecom service purchase patterns. Verizon historically had the lion’s share in the market, but AT&T has made inroads since it launched FirstNet.
This is the latest telecom ad dispute that NAD has weighed in on. In another recent case, the carrier being challenged did not fare so well.
In late April, NAD recommended that T-Mobile discontinue or modify both a general claim and a specific Internet commercial that touched on the speed of its Home Internet fixed wireless service. Separate and slightly different challenges were lodged by Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC and Charter Communications Inc.
