AT&T; Fails to Get Suit Dropped

AT&T; Corp. lost a Supreme Court bid to stop a class-action lawsuit by customers who say they were overcharged millions of dollars when the company rounded mobile phone air-time charges to the next full minute. The decision, made without comment, forces the company to fight a Washington state court lawsuit that seeks tens of millions of dollars on behalf of customers in five states.

In a separate ruling, the Supreme Court lifted a court order that had limited the Federal Communication Commission’s authority over local Bell telephone companies’ efforts to provide long-distance service. The high court vacated the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ order forbidding the FCC from requiring local Bell telephone companies to open their networks to competitors at certain prices, as a prerequisite for entering the long-distance market.