Behind Your Business

Is an iPhone an acceptable device for business users? Verizon Wireless and AT&T have been involved in a public multimillion-dollar spat over the question with dueling television advertising campaigns -- and a lawsuit to boot. Now Apple is stepping into the fray with its own ads.

Verizon started running ads last month claiming that AT&T's 3G network is inferior. "If you want to know why your 3G coverage works so well on Verizon Wireless, there's a map for that," Verizon's ad said, riffing on Apple's "there's an app for that" tagline.

"If you want to know why some people have spotty 3G coverage, there's a map for that too," the ad concludes.

New Apple Ads

The ads showed two maps -- one of Verizon's 3G coverage, showing almost total coverage of the 48 states, and one of AT&T's 3G coverage, which is depicted as limited to major cities. AT&T responded to this attack with big guns -- a lawsuit filed in federal court requesting an injunction and a temporary restraining order against the ads, which it termed "misleading." AT&T's request was rejected.

Meanwhile, AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S., launched its own television and print ads defending its 3G network. Now Apple is joining the battle with ads that tout the iPhone's -- and AT&T's -- ability to let users simultaneously speak on the phone and download data. The ads will run on House on Fox, Dancing With the Stars on ABC, and How I Met Your Mother on CBS.

AT&T's GSM network allows simultaneous voice and data connections, while Verizon's CDMA network does not. The new Apple ads promote the AT&T network as superior for business users and consumers. In one ad, an announcer says, "Say you're on a call with a client and he asks, 'Did you see my e-mail?'...