[comp.dcom.telecom] AT&T Settles Suit With International Telecharge

phil@wubios.wustl.edu (J. Philip Miller) (01/16/91)

[Moderator's Note: Mr. Miller forwarded this AT&T press release
to the Digest.   PAT]

BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1991 JAN 15 

AT&T settled a lawsuit it filed against International Telecharge of
Dallas last March. AT&T had alleged that long-distance service at
public telephones had been switched from AT&T to ITI and to another
company, National Telephone Services of Rockville, Maryland, without
the knowledge or consent of the owners of premises where the phones
are located. The agreement includes corrective measures intended to
address unauthorized switching, plus payment by ITI of an undisclosed
amount to AT&T. It is considered a victory by AT&T against alternative
operator companies like ITI, which specialize in controlling long
distance services from pay phones and marking them up. The case
against NTS is continuing in the U.S. District Court for the district
of New Jersey in Trenton.

AT&T's claims against NTS are not affected by the agreement with  
ITI. NTS was bought by Telesphere last year, but the president of 
NTS, Ronald J. Haan, was recently named president and chief 
executive of Telesphere as part of a debt-restructuring 
agreement. Telesphere, with the acquisition of NTS, became the 
4th largest long distance company in the U.S. 

For more information, contact: AT&T, Mark Siegel,  201/221-8413


     J. Philip Miller, Professor, Division of Biostatistics, Box 8067
	 Washington University Medical School, St. Louis MO 63110
	     phil@wubios.WUstl.edu - Internet  (314) 362-3617
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