Supreme Court rules for AT&T unit in antitrust case

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Wednesday for an AT&T subsidiary in an antitrust lawsuit accusing it of anti-competitive practices over high-speed Internet access (broadband). The justices unanimously rejected a claim that AT&T's Pacific Bell Telephone subsidiary had engaged in a "price squeeze" aimed at driving out competition in the market for digital subscriber line, or DSL, service. The case involved wholesale prices AT&T charged for high-speed service to Internet service providers who then compete with AT&T for retail Internet customers. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including LinkLine Communications, buy high-speed service from AT&T, combine it with other services and then sell Internet-access services that compete with AT&T. The lawsuit, filed in 2003 in federal court in California, claimed a "price squeeze" that involved AT&T selling at high prices in its wholesale sales and low prices at retail to undercut rival retail sellers.