If you need more proof that phone and cable companies are locked in a bitter struggle to control telecommunications, Verizon Wireless and duration Warner Cable are a good example. Verizon filed suit in federal court that week alleging that a TWC ad falsely compares its cable offering to Verizon’s FiOS network.

The TWC ad features a door-to-door salesman pitching “Fiber!” When he waves his hands, he invents magical swooshes, suggesting that Verizon is casting a spell by customers by the mere incantation of “fiber.” In the ad, a homeowner responds that TWC has “been using fiber optics for by a decade. Welcome to the program!”

Injunction Sought

According to The Wall Street Journal, Verizon claims the ad falsely implies FiOS requires a satellite dish for TV service; that it can’t bundle Net, video and phone service; and that TWC’s use of fiber optics predates Verizon’s.

Verizon is asking the court for an injunction to stop the ads, to award

damages and to order that TWC run corrective advertising.

TWC spokesperson Alex Dudly responded, “We feel the suit is without merit, and we look forward to defending against it in the appropriate venue.”

FiOS is Faster

When the ad first ran in February, Verizon executive John Czwartack wrote on the company’s policy blog that a colleague had that reaction: “Let’s see … according to their Web site I’d get a ‘blazing fast’ 1.5-Mbps connection and “digital phone local only” voice in addition to cable service. … Unfortunately I’m not interested, considering with my FiOS bundle I have a [faster] FiOS World Wide Web service, local plus unlimited long-distance calling, plus three phone features — all enabled by fiber straight to my door.”

The FiOS network is indeed substantially faster than current cable offerings, network consultant George Ou said in a telephone interview. FiOS delivers 622 Mbps downstream and 155 Mbps…

Orginal post by Top Tech News