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 uunet!wuarchive!wubios!phil - UUCP (314)362-2693(FAX) C90562JM@WUVMD - bitnet