BALTIMORE, MD—Some of the nation’s largest wireless carriers have agreed to settle with attorneys general over allegations they failed to disclose all the material terms of their offers.

The settlement, announced this week by the office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, resolves claims against AT&T Mobility, Cricket Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Cellco Partnership, and TracFone Wireless.

The wireless carriers agreed to disclose all material terms, conditions, and limitations when making offers for “unlimited” mobile data plans, “free” phone offers, monetary incentives to “switch” wireless networks, and wireless carrier plan comparisons.

Under the settlement, “offers for ‘unlimited’ mobile data plans can only be made when the offered plan does not set any numerical limits on the quantity of data allowed during a billing cycle and the offer discloses any restrictions on data speed,” the announcement said.

“Offers to pay for consumers to ‘switch’ carriers must include disclosures of each type of fee and amounts that consumers must pay,” it continued.

The settlement also requires the wireless carriers to pay $10.25 million to the attorneys generals’ offices that joined the settlement. The money will be divided among the attorneys general’s offices that participated in the settlement.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels