June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Sprint Nextel Corp., the third- largest U.S. mobile-phone company, won’t face a nationwide class-action lawsuit over claims it overcharged data-card customers for taxes and refused to issue refunds.

U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan in Tacoma, Washington, concluded Sprint customers couldn’t show that being allowed to press claims about wireless-network card charges as a group would insure the case would be handled efficiently. Consumers contend Sprint officials improperly tacked on taxes and surcharges to their bills.

Consumers “have not proven that the benefits of adjudication of the plaintiffs’ claims at one trial would outweigh the complexity of such a proceeding,” Bryan wrote in his June 23 decision.

“While we are pleased with the judge’s decision, it is procedural in nature and is the first of many to be made by the court,” John Taylor, a Sprint spokesman, said yesterday in an e-mail. “Sprint remains committed to providing fair and transparent billing practices as part of a positive customer experience.”

Sprint, based in Overland Park, Kansas, said this month it plans to sell some network assets in Midwestern states to comply with an Illinois court ruling in a dispute with IPCS Inc.

Sprint will sell parts of the network it acquired in the 2005 purchase of Nextel Communications Inc., company officials said June 12. A state court judge ruled in 2006 that the operations infringe on the territorial rights of IPCS, which sells Sprint-branded service in the area as an affiliate.

Judges’ Recusals

A California nonprofit group sued Sprint in federal court in San Diego in 2007 over the tax charges. Bryan took over the case after his counterparts in San Diego recused themselves in April 2008, according to court filings.

The Utility Consumers’ Action Network, a consumer-advocacy group with more than 30,000 members, accused Sprint of charging additional fees for text messages sent to customers who bought network cards to access the Internet.

Although the company assigned card buyers a phone number, the cards are intended to process data transmissions and have no keypad, screen or other way to alert customers who receive calls or messages, the group said in the suit.

Beginning in September 2006, Sprint charged some customers taxes and surcharges that should only be associated with cell phones, the consumer group said in its suit. Sprint also left accounts open to receive text messages and didn’t automatically block them.

National Class

Consumers sought to have the case designated as a national class-action suit so the claims could be combined and reviewed efficiently.

“Certifying a nationwide class in this situation would not be a superior method of adjudicating” customers’ claims, Bryan concluded.

The judge said his ruling doesn’t preclude the consumer group from seeking to have a California-only class created for tax claims.

The case is Utility Consumers’ Action Network v. Sprint Solutions Inc., 07-cv-2231, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California (San Diego).

To contact the reporter on this story: Jef Feeley in Wilmington, Delaware, at jfeeley@bloomberg.net; Bill Callahan in San Diego at callahan@san.rr.com.

Last Updated: June 25, 2009 00:01 EDT