War of words heats up for Google, AT&T

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By VICTOR GODINEZ

It's not often that phone sex lines and Benedictine nuns enter into debates on telecommunications industry regulation, but AT&T Inc. andGoogle Inc. are making it happen.

And even as the two tech titans escalate their sometimes bizarre war of words, a major partnership between the companies is also brewing.

Dallas-based AT&T and Google are squabbling over Google Voice, a program that lets users make free domestic calls on a land line or cellphone.

But soon the feuding companies will be business buddies, as AT&T prepares to offer wireless phones built on Google's Android operating system.

AT&T is ticked that Google is blocking Google Voice calls to rural lines with expensive connection fees, since the Federal Communications Commission requires traditional carriers like AT&T to connect those calls. That means AT&T pays to make those connections and Google doesn't.

The back-and-forth is undeniably entertaining.

War of words heats up for Google, AT&T

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