AT&T and Verizon's fight over 3G coverage maps just keeps rolling along, with Verizon recently running new ads that mock AT&T's wireless network, and AT&T lawyers working very hard yesterday to get those advertisements pulled by the courts. The decision to fight the ads doesn't seem to be all that wise, given the debate has simply managed to push the ads (and AT&T's recent network issues) further into the spotlight. That said, AT&T has issued an entirely new press release that "sets the record straight" on AT&T's dispute with big red.

"As the U.S. market leader in wireless data service, we typically don't respond to competitors' advertising," insists AT&T, but "recent ads from Verizon are so blatantly false and misleading, that we want to set the record straight about AT&T's wireless data coverage."

AT&T's complaint all along has been that Verizon's ads, which use maps to highlight AT&T's limited 3G footprint (clearly labeled as "3G coverage"), give the false impression that AT&T doesn't offer service outside of their 3G footprint. To that end, AT&T is now reminding its customers that the company's 2.5G/EDGE network reaches the majority of Americans. Whether you think that's a good thing or not of course depends on your personal experience with AT&T's EDGE network.

"The EDGE network -- that as you know lets customers do all of the same things that they do in 3G areas -- apart from a difference in speed -- reaches 97% of the country’s population, about 296 million people," AT&T's Seth Bloom tells us. "In total with our networks, we hit 300 million people, or 98% of the population with wireless data," says Bloom, who goes on to say that's "certainly not the impression left by the misleading ads."

Again though, AT&T's complaints simply bring additional attention to Verizon's ads, something we're sure Verizon doesn't mind.