On August 28, 2003, the court granted final approval to the parties' settlement, apparently valued at a minimum of $6 million, in two related class actions against cellular telephone service providers Cellular One, AirTouch Cellular, and Verizon Wireless on behalf of all persons who received service using a calling plan that assessed toll or landline charges in the amount of $0.082 per call in the state of Michigan between March 1, 1993, and the date of the final judgment in the action. The actions alleged that the companies improperly charged toll fees and landline charges, constituting a violation of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, breach of contract, fraud, and misrepresentation. Claimants must make claims within 150 days of the date of the final judgment in the action.

Persons who had similar cellular accounts with Vodafone Group, PLC, Vodafone America, Inc., New Par, or Cellco Partnership are also eligible to take part in this settlement. A landline charge is one that is assessed to a cellular telephone user account when the user connects to a landline telephone or a cellular network that belongs to a company besides the one with whom the user has his account. A toll charge is one that is assessed when a user places a call to a cellular phone outside the user's local calling area.

The settlement class is divided into three categories based on monthly calling plan access fees: (1) low-minute users, who are defined as those with a monthly access fee of $30 or less; (2) high-minute users, defined as those whose access fees are between $30.01 and $150.00; and (3) superhigh minute users, who pay monthly access fees of $150.01 or more. The category that a particular user fits into will be determined based on access fees charged in the month that the settlement is finalized if the account is active at that time. If the account is not active at that time, the user's category will be determined based on the user's declaration, subject to the company's verification, of the amount of his or her most recent calling plan that included toll fees or landline charges.

Claimants may choose to receive a long-distance calling card as their portion of the settlement. The calling cards will be issued by an independent long-distance telephone company containing minutes usable nationwide and at any time for domestic calls. Calling cards will be usable over a twelve month period. Class members will receive minutes according to their subcategory: low-minute users will receive 60 minutes; high-minute users, 100 minutes; and superhigh minute users, 120 minutes.

Alternatively, class members may elect to receive, instead of long-distance calling cards, wireless anytime minutes to be added to a current or newly established Verizon Wireless account. Establishment of a new Verizon Wireless account is subject to eligibility requirements. Class members selecting this option will receive the equivalent number of minutes they would have received under the long-distance calling card option. Wireless anytime minutes will be usable for six months or longer, depending on the terms of the claimant's current or newly established calling plan. Geographical restrictions and additional charges (i.e., roaming, long distance, toll, and others) apply to the same extent they are imposed on wireless anytime minutes under the current or newly established calling plan.

As part of the settlement, Verizon Wireless will also re-notify current account holders of the existence of landline charges. The re-notification will inform them of their ability to switch to alternate Verizon Wireless calling plans that do not include such charges.

The settlement will not be effective until the court grants it final approval. The court has scheduled a hearing on the matter for August 28, 2003.