The National Advertising Review Board re-affirmed a decision last year made by another panel that Sprint Nextel cannot claim to be "America's most dependable 3G network" in its advertisements.
The NARB agreed with the previous ruling that concluded Sprint relied on outdated or unscientific information in claiming that its network achieved the lowest levels of missed or dropped calls and that data transmission was reliable. Verizon Wireless had drafted the complaint.
Sprint spokesman Jason Gertzen told the Kansas City Business Journal that the company "respectfully disagrees with the NARB decision and maintains that its dependability claim was fully substantiated based on tests that were designed by industry experts to measure how consumers use 3G data networks." He also indicated that the decision is "moot" anyway because Sprint already dropped the 3G dependability claims in its advertisements, preferring to focus on its 4G offerings.
"Nevertheless, Sprint will take the NARB's decision into account when developing future advertisements," Gertzen said.
Sprint relied on two tests in 2008 and early 2009 performed by Nielsen Mobile. Sprint claimed it average the results of those two test to reach its most dependable 3G network claim. The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, however, concluded that Sprint should have relied on the most recent tests available, which actually concluded that Verizon was more dependable.
For more:
- check out this Kansas City Business Journal article
Related articles:
It's Verizon vs. Sprint over 'most dependable' network claim
AT&T sues Verizon over 'there's a map for that' ad
Verizon seeking judgment on 'Most Reliable' ad claims