Phonetele, Inc. v. American Telephone & Telegraph Company

Phonetele, Inc. appeals the judgment of the district court in favor of AT & T and related defendants (hereafter referred to collectively as “AT & T”) on Phonetele’s antitrust causes of action. Phonetele’s principal claim on appeal is that the district court could not have found, on the evidence presented to it, that AT & T had carried its burden of proof on its affirmative defense of regulatory justification. Phonetele also argues that the district court erred in defining the relevant market, and that Phone-tele was deprived of a fair trial because the district court delayed its decision for four years. We affirm.

I. FACTS

Phonetele manufactures and sells the “Phonemaster.” The Phonemaster is a device of the type known generically as a “call restrictor,” connected between a telephone and the rest of the telephone network to prevent the user from placing calls beyond a predetermined area. Its primary market consists of medium-to-large companies with numerous telephone extensions. The Phonemaster allows the company to restrict phone usage by employees or customers. It is a sophisticated device that not only can prevent unauthorized long-distance calls, but also can allow the…