And you thought your wireless bill was high.
Verizon Wireless has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Arkansas naming several Windstream LLCs as defendants and is seeking more than $10 million over allegations of breach of federal and state tariffs.
The lawsuit, filed by Cellco Partnership of New York, which operates as Verizon Wireless, and MCI Communications Services LLC, named more than a dozen Windstream subsidiaries of Windstream Holdings II LLC of Little Rock, the successor to Windstream Holdings Inc.
The lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in Little Rock, said that Verizon bought two kinds of telecommunications services from Windstream that are known in the industry as “switched access” and “special access” services.
“Verizon sometimes purchases from Windstream both switched access service and special access service that use the same, higher-capacity telecommunications facility,” the lawsuit said. “In that scenario, Windstream’s federal and state tariffs provide that Windstream’s price for that higher-capacity ‘mixed-use’ facility is based on a formula.”
But the lawsuit said that Windstream didn’t follow that formula and billed Verizon for mixed-use facilities at rates that were higher than its tariffs permitted.
“Windstream has conceded that it did not follow the formula and has overbilled Verizon,” the lawsuit said. “But Windstream has refused to return more than $10 million that Windstream billed and collected in violation of its tariffs.”
Verizon also said that Windstream owes it a “substantial amount” in interest under the terms of those tariffs.
Verizon is seeking the amount of its overpayments and interest.
A spokesman for Windstream told Whispers on Nov. 1 that it doesn’t comment on pending litigation and it has not yet been served with the complaint.
The attorneys representing the plaintiffs are Steven Quattlebaum and Meredith Causey of Quattlebaum Grooms & Tull PLLC of Little Rock and attorneys from the Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick firm in Washington, D.C.
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