Apple Settles 4g Advertising Case
Apple has decided to pay a 2.25 million Australian dollar to settle a legal case for deliberately misleading the Australian public and violating sections of the Australian Consumer Law.
Back in March 2012, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) filed a case against Apple Inc, saying that Apple consciously advertised its third-generation iPad as “WiFi and 4G compatible” in spite of knowing the fact that it is not workable in Australia.
“The ACCC alleges that Apple’s recent promotion of the new ‘iPad with WiFi + 4G’ is misleading because it represents to Australian consumers that the product ‘iPad with WiFi + 4G’ can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case,” the ACCC wrote in a statement in March.
The settlement still needs to get the approval from the Federal Court. According to The Australian national newspaper, Apple will pay the agreed amount to ACCC. The company will also have to pay additional $300,000 incurred in ACCC’s legal cost.
Last month, it was announced by Apple that it is ready to pay full penalty to any customer who felt misguided by the company’s marketing and advertising. After this regulatory action against Apple, the company has changed the label on its iPad from “WiFi+4G” to “WiFi+Cellular” on May 9. This initiative was also taken by the company in many other countries such as United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, New Zealand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
Since this issue came into spotlight, the other telecom operators in Australia including Optus and Telstra quickly responds to the situation. They started telling their users that the device is not compatible with 4G network in Australia.
Telstra said in a statement that “We’re making it clear to our customers that new iPad does not run on 4G LTE networks in Australia.”
Apple also started displaying an advisory on its website to inform consumers that the device cannot work with present 4G LTE and WiMax networks in Australia. Besides, Apple is going to refund a specific amount to customers who purchased an iPad in the duration of March 16 and March 28.
 filed a case against Apple Inc, saying that Apple consciously advertised its third-generation iPad as “WiFi and 4G compatible” in spite of knowing the fact that it is not workable in Australia.
“The ACCC alleges that Apple’s recent promotion of the new ‘iPad with WiFi + 4G’ is misleading because it represents to Australian consumers that the product ‘iPad with WiFi + 4G’ can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case,” the ACCC wrote in a statement in March.
The settlement still needs to get the approval from the Federal Court. According to The Australian national newspaper, Apple will pay the agreed amount to ACCC. The company will also have to pay additional $300,000 incurred in ACCC’s legal cost.
Last month, it was announced by Apple that it is ready to pay full penalty to any customer who felt misguided by the company’s marketing and advertising. After this regulatory action against Apple, the company has changed the label on its iPad from “WiFi+4G” to “WiFi+Cellular” on May 9. This initiative was also taken by the company in many other countries such as United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, New Zealand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
Since this issue came into spotlight, the other telecom operators in Australia including Optus and Telstra quickly responds to the situation. They started telling their users that the device is not compatible with 4G network in Australia.
Telstra said in a statement that “We’re making it clear to our customers that new iPad does not run on 4G LTE networks in Australia.”
Apple also started displaying an advisory on its website to inform consumers that the device cannot work with present 4G LTE and WiMax networks in Australia. Besides, Apple is going to refund a specific amount to customers who purchased an iPad in the duration of March 16 and March 28.Next%20stop%3A%20Pinterest "Pin It")
