Apple's New iPhone Ads Back AT&T

Apple yesterday joined the fracas between AT&T and Verizon over 3G coverage with a pair of television commercials that defended its U.S. mobile partner.

The ads highlighted the ability of Apple's iPhone to take calls while simultaneously browsing the Web, sending text messages and reading e-mail when on AT&T's network. Both ads ended with the tagline "Can your phone and your network do that?," a reference to Verizon's inability to handle calls and other tasks at the same time.

AT&T made that same point in an ad last week that featured actor Luke Wilson claiming several AT&T advantages. "Which network lets you talk and surf at the same time?" Wilson asked, then slapped an "X" under the "AT&T" column.

Wilson's advertisement was AT&T's first televised response to a campaign launched in October by rival Verizon that compared its 3G coverage to AT&Ts using the phrase "There's a map for that," a take-off on the "There's an app for that" line most Apple iPhone commercials use when touting the 100,000 programs available for downloading from the App Store.

An executive with Nielsen, the company responsible for the Nielsen Ratings, told Advertising Age last week that although the Wilson-hosted ad by AT&T was a "stopgap," he expected more from the company. "It's inevitable there will be more to come. Verizon will not stop running those ads," Nielson senior vice president Roger Entner told the publication.

Since Entner's comments, Wilson has appeared in several more commercials for AT&T, including one where he stands on a huge map showing the carrier's 2G and 3G coverage areas, and another where a purported Verizon customer is forced to juggle two phones to talk and surf the Internet at the same time. That ad ends with the line, "AT&T, a better 3G experience."

AT&T is Apple exclusive partner in the U.S. market, although some analysts have suggested that the deal, rumored to run through June 2010, may not be extended as Apple searches for a wider reach using multiple carriers, a tactic it has already applied in several other countries. Ironically, given the fact that the new Apple commercials slight Verizon, though they don't name the AT&T rival, many experts believe that Verizon is a prime candidate to become an iPhone partner in 2010.

Verizon's ads prompted AT&T to file a lawsuit earlier this month in a Georgia federal court, accusing its competitor of making misleading claims with maps that showed scanty 3G coverage. Those ads, charged AT&T, "deceive consumers into believing that AT&T customers cannot communicate in areas where they have no 3G coverage." The company asked a federal judge to issue a court order that would have forced Verizon to stop airing the spots.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten denied AT&T's request .