AT&T division will pay millions to settle cellphone tax

AT&T Mobility, a unit of AT&T Inc., has agreed to pay as much as $76 million to settle a cellphone-tax lawsuit brought by Missouri municipalities against wireless carriers operating in the state, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The municipalities assert that they can levy on cellphone service a tax normally applied to utilities and traditional "landline" phone companies.

Verizon Wireless settled the lawsuit last September for $31.5 million. Both Verizon and AT&T agreed to start collecting the tax from their customers.