AT&T sues Charter over 'fiber-powered' Spectrum broadband ads

TL;DR

• AT&T filed a lawsuit on August 28 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, against Charter over Spectrum's use of the term “fiber-powered” for residential broadband delivered over hybrid fiber/coax (HFC).
• AT&T alleges the wording is false advertising that misleads consumers into thinking Spectrum Internet is delivered over fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP).
• AT&T is seeking a jury trial, damages, legal costs, and a court finding of unfair competition under state law.
• In March, the National Advertising Division said Charter had voluntarily modified disclosures tied to its “fiber-powered” claims.

AT&T filed a lawsuit on August 28 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, alleging that Charter Communications falsely advertises Spectrum residential broadband as “fiber-powered” even though most of the service runs over a hybrid fiber/coax network.

AT&T says Charter's use of “fiber-powered” and “Spectrum Fiber Broadband Network” misleads consumers into believing Spectrum Internet is comparable to AT&T Fiber and delivered over a fiber-to-the-premises network. AT&T's complaint says the “last mile” connection to the home on Charter's HFC network uses coaxial cable rather than fiber.

Charter does use fiber-to-the-premises in some cases, including new network builds and government-subsidized rural deployments, but most of its network is HFC. The article says an HFC node may serve about 250 homes, with fiber running to the node and coax used from the node to the home.

AT&T is seeking a jury trial and asks the court to declare that Charter engaged in unfair competition under state law, award actual and enhanced damages, and require Charter to pay AT&T's legal fees and other costs. Charter said the National Advertising Division had already rejected AT&T's complaints regarding Spectrum's Fiber Powered Network and said it expects the court to do the same.

AT&T had previously challenged the claims at the National Advertising Division. In March, the National Advertising Division said Charter voluntarily modified disclosures related to its “fiber-powered” claims and agreed to clearly disclose that the services are not delivered through a fiber-to-the-home infrastructure.