Southwestern Bell Telephone, a subsidiary of SBC Communications, will pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Missouri alleging violations of federal telemarketing rules, the Missouri attorney general's office said yesterday.
In the July 2003 suit, Missouri accused Southwestern Bell of violating federal law by failing to cease telemarketing calls to consumers who told the company to stop calling. The company has admitted to violating the law at least 100 times, the Missouri attorney general's office said.
Along with the payment, Southwestern Bell agreed to abide by Missouri's no-call list. Other telecom companies bound by such agreements with Missouri include Sprint, MCI and AT&T. MCI paid $40,000 in its agreement with the state, and AT&T paid $10,000.
Southwestern Bell is the largest local exchange carrier in Missouri.
Melissa Campanelli covers postal news, CRM and database marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
