Court sides with BellSouth against Alabama CLEC

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District – Atlanta Division today granted BellSouth a temporary restraining order that instructed Birmingham, Ala.-based competitive carrier Momentum Business Solutions to cease telling customers it is affiliated with BellSouth and that BellSouth endorses its products and services.

According to a BellSouth spokesman, its customers were switched over to Momentum without their knowledge, often discovering the switch only when they contacted BellSouth with a customer service or repair issue.

“When they were asked for their account number, it didn’t match anything in our system,” BellSouth’s spokesman said.

According to BellSouth, Momentum allegedly told a Kentucky trucking firm that it was taking over BellSouth’s corporate accounts while the incumbent would continue to handle residential accounts. A South Carolina businesswoman allegedly was told that BellSouth hired Momentum to “provide discounts” to BellSouth’s preferred customers. Other customers allegedly were told by Momentum that it was a BellSouth company or that it was an affiliate of BellSouth that handled long-distance service.

According to BellSouth’s spokesman, the carrier has encountered relatively few instances of such alleged misrepresentation. “I wouldn’t say this is the norm. There are hundreds of CLECs in our territory and most of them are doing business the right way. But every now and then you get someone who decides he doesn’t want to play by the rules,” he said.

A Momentum spokesman denied the accusations. “All of the customers switched over were told that Momentum was not affiliated with BellSouth. This is just a move by BellSouth to stifle competition,” he said.