Wireless industry stunted by Supreme Court decisions on arbitration, ETFs: Class-action litigation on early-termination fees to move forward

The Supreme Court dealt the wireless industry a setback by declining to review lower court rulings that found T-Mobile USA Inc.’s arbitration clause in service contracts do not prevent subscribers from lodging class-action lawsuits against the No. 4 mobile-phone carrier.
Opening a new term, the high court also let stand an Illinois appeals court decision affirming class certification of a 48-state early-termination fee class-action lawsuit against Sprint Nextel Corp. As a result, class-action complaints against T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel will move forward.
In a separate action on a stand-alone case, the Supreme Court affirmed a decision by 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to keep intact an arbitration award involving AT&T Mobility in a case in which it was alleged the carrier illegally disclosed a teenager’s mobile-phone number.
Last week, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state law in a class-action lawsuit unsuccessfully brought against Verizon Wireless.
The Supreme Court’s actions come as the wireless industry lobbies the Federal Communications Commission to create a national ETF policy.