Alltel, content vendors nailed with class action over billing

A class-action lawsuit filed against Alltel Corp. accuses the regional mobile-phone carrier of adding unauthorized charges on subscribers’ monthly bills.
The suit focuses on the relationships between Alltel and third-party mobile content providers and billing aggregators such as m-Qube Inc., a unit of VeriSign Inc.
“Alltel has for years been systematically, repeatedly and without authorization, billing its customers for purchases and services not agreed to by those customers,” the suit states. “Alltel and third-party service providers have, on information and belief, profited significantly through this practice.”
Alltel filed to transfer the suit from Illinois state court to federal court in Chicago, an action Alltel spokesman Andrew Moreau said “is a normal and customary part of the defense process.” Moreau declined to respond to specific allegations in the suit.
“Alltel’s decision to continue to charge its customers for mobile content without taking steps to authenticate the representations of the mobile content providers that the customer’s authority to be charged was obtained constitutes a deliberate and willful scheme to cheat large numbers of people out of small amounts of money,” the plaintiff stated.
The issue is not a new one. Indeed, content companies including Jamster and Buongiorno S.p.A. have been embroiled in similar litigation.