AT&T settles over third-party content charges

AT&T subscribers subject to unauthorized third-party mobile content charges will be eligible for refunds as part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit approved by a Georgia court late last week. According to law firm KamberEdelson, LLC, which served as lead counsel for the plaintiffs, the settlement involves over a dozen lawsuits filed by AT&T subscribers across the U.S. After preliminary negotiations, the parties achieved a settlement with the assistance of a mediator, and although the financial terms remain unclear, AT&T must pay $4.3 million simply to cover the plaintiffs' legal costs. The suits argued that mobile operators have not installed adequate safeguards to guarantee subscribers are billed only for data services they agree to purchase; similar suits against Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA are currently underway, with KamberEdelson claiming the conclusion of the AT&T suit represents the first nationwide settlement of its kind.

For more on the AT&T settlement:
-read this release [1]

Related articles:
Seven operators named in latest class action suit [2]
T-Mobile USA [3] faces mobile billing lawsuit
Sprint [4] sued over unauthorized mobile content fee