Verizon loses customer data service switch lawsuit

A U.S. appeals court has ruled that Verizon is no longer allowed to use proprietary info from its competitors to get customers to switch to its service. 

Verizon was sending letters to customers who had canceled their service, asking them to come back, rather than let them sign up with a competitor. The carrier also allegedly delayed the number porting process in order to keep customers from leaving; delaying a port is illegal under federal rules.

The court said Verizon couldn't send out solicitation offers on better deals based upon the data, upholding an earlier Federal Communications Commission  ruling. Last year, Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Networks, filed a complaint with the FCC over the activity. The Commission agreed with the cable companies and told Verizon it must stop using the data. 

Needless to say, Verizon is trying to spin this as a loss for consumers who will have "less information available" when choosing between different competitors (i.e. the retention offer magically appearing after they decide to leave).

For more:
- Daily Tech recaps the court action. Blog [1].

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