As you might know, AT&T is taking legal action against T-Mobile for the Easy Switch tool in the T-Life app that allows Verizon and AT&T subscribers to login using their credentials. AI will then analyze their current Verizon or AT&T plans, lines, and device payments and recommend the best equivalent T-Mobile plan while calculating the savings they would have if they switch.
T-Mobile's brief says that AT&T's demand for a temporary restraining order is "not likely to succeed"
AT&T says that T-Mobile is committing a violation of its Terms of Use (TOU). The TOU has to be adhered to by all visitors to the AT&T site, including T-Mobile. AT&T claims that T-Mobile is copying over 100 categories of customer data which leaves its subscribers open to identity theft and fraud. AT&T wants the court to order T-Mobile to stop what it is doing with the Easy Switch tool and order T-Mobile to delete the information it has collected about AT&T customers. It also wants the court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent T-Mobile from offering the original Easy Switch tool to its subscribers.
There are no plans at T-Mobile to switch back to the original version of Easy Switch
Last night, T-Mobile responded to AT&T's legal attack by filing a brief that calls AT&T's filing "defective." That's because AT&T subscribers have not been able to use the original Easy Switch even before AT&T filed its motion on November 30. T-Mobile eventually disabled Easy Switch for AT&T customers after the latter prevented its customers from using it. T-Mobile says in its brief that even if the original version of Easy Switch were available, it is completely legal, and AT&T is unlikely to succeed on the merits of all of its claims.
Screenshot of T-Mobile's Easy Switch tool showing how an AT&T customer shares information about his plan by signing into his account. | Image credit-T-Mobile
T-Mobile says that it has no plans to revert back to the original version of Easy Switch and that "the conduct AT&T is challenging is not ongoing and there is nothing to enjoin." Additionally, T-Mobile points out that while AT&T says that "this case is not about competition for customers," that is exactly what it is about as AT&T requests that the Court "help it limit how AT&T customers can choose to voluntarily share their own account information to comparison shop with competing wireless providers."
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"The Court should decline that invitation. AT&T cannot satisfy any of the required elements for temporary injunctive relief, and its motion should be denied," T-Mobile responds in its brief. The latter also includes screenshots in its brief that show AT&T customers were signing into their own accounts when getting the required info for Easy Switch. Data relating to an AT&T customer's account was not shared with T-Mobile until it already appeared on that customer's phone. AT&T subscribers should not be surprised that they were turning info about their AT&T plan, lines, and device payments over to T-Mobile.
T-Mobile explains what it wants from the Court
AT&T might have resorted to exaggeration in its lawsuit when it made a claim that "high unanticipated traffic" from its customers using the Easy Switch tool could "force AT&T to invest in additional server infrastructure, or risk slower response times and a poor user experience for AT&T customers." These claims were made even though AT&T customers used Easy Switch only 342 times even though it has 119 million customers. Those figures come from T-Mobile's brief.
In the brief, T-Mobile also made it clear what it wants from the Court. "AT&T’s unnecessary motion should be summarily denied for a simple reason: T-Mobile disabled the original version of Easy Switch that AT&T claims is unlawful, and T-Mobile does not intend to reenable it. AT&T thus cannot show that it is suffering or will suffer any irreparable harm. That begins and ends the inquiry because, without irreparable harm, the Court 'need not reach the remaining three elements'"
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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