Telstra has been found guilty by the Federal Court of misleading consumers in its advertising of its Next G mobile phone network.
The court found Telstra’s claims the service was “Everywhere you need it", were “misleading and deceptive”.
Telstra used the tagline in newspaper and TV ads, created by George Patterson Y&R, and was taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which claimed the Next G service was not always available. The ACCC alleged that there were 12 instances where Telstra mislead consumers.
The Federal Court ruled Telstra had "engaged and continues to engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive.” Justice Michelle Gordon said: “Whether a user could obtain coverage depended in part upon where the person was, what handset that person was using and in some cases whether that handset had an external antenna attached," she said in a written judgment.
The ACCC will seek injunctions preventing further similar advertisements and orders requiring Telstra to publish corrective ads
Telstra said it would be appealing the court’s finding.
"We intend to appeal this very disappointing decision. We stand behind our advertising and the network because we know that Telstra’s Next G network is the largest mobile network in Australia that provides coverage in more places in Australia than any other mobile network including the old CDMA network,” a Telstra spokesman said.
"The ACCC's case was based on evidence from just three out of more than 1.5 million Next G customers. In fact, one customer was singing the praises of the Next G network from the witness box.
"Telstra gives its customers credit for understanding advertising. Do people really believe that Vegemite puts a rose in every cheek? By the same token, we never said the Next G network covered every square inch of Australia.
"Most of the advertisements in question have not been used for months," he added.
