Following a complaint from AT&T, the National Advertising Division (NAD) finds that commercials for T-Mobile’s T-Satellite went overboard in promising ‘100% coverage everywhere.’
You may have spotted actor Billy Bob Thornton in TV commercials endorsing T-Mobile’s cellular Starlink service. But an industry regulator says the ads went too far when boasting about the satellite connectivity.
On Thursday, the National Advertising Division (NAD) indicated that some of the language in the commercials and T-Mobile’s press releases about the satellite connectivity were misleading.
The advertising division—part of an ad industry self-regulation system—took up the case after rival carrier AT&T filed a complaint about T-Mobile’s marketing. Some the language for T-Mobile’s implementation of SpaceX’s cellular Starlink, dubbed T-Satellite, implied it provided “100% coverage everywhere or everywhere the sky is visible,” the regulator said.
In press releases, T-Mobile also said, “If customers can see the sky, they’re connected [to T Satellite]” and “No matter where you are, you will never miss a moment.”
“NAD determined that these claims communicated universal coverage and cannot be properly qualified with a disclosure,” the regulator said.
We reached out to NAD to learn more, and the organization pointed to its final decision, which says, “T-Mobile acknowledged that T-Satellite service is not available in all geographic areas.
