* Judge suggests Verizon would likely succeed in its suit

against T-Mobile

* T-Mobile conducted apples-to-oranges comparison, judge

says

* T-Mobile countersued Verizon

NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday

granted Verizon Wireless a preliminary injunction

blocking rival T-Mobile from running ads promising

consumers more than $1,000 of annual savings if they switch

cellphone carriers.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said Verizon

would likely succeed on the merits of its claim that T-Mobile's

"Save Over $1,000" campaign constituted false advertising,

resulting in irreparable harm.

He also said an injunction would serve the public interest

by promoting truthful and accurate advertising, "ensuring that

what consumers see is what they get."

Neither T-Mobile nor Verizon immediately responded to

requests for comment.

In its February 4 lawsuit, Verizon accused T-Mobile of

comparing its promotional rates with Verizon's standard rates,

and inflating the value of services that "the other guys leave

out."

T-Mobile countersued on March 2, saying Verizon's own

campaign featuring George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and

Benjamin Franklin was bogus because that carrier could not

promise a "better deal" for T-Mobile or AT&T Mobility

customers.

Kaplan said T-Mobile's promise of big savings by switching

to its Better Value Plan from Verizon's Unlimited Ultimate Plan

was "literally false" because T-Mobile conducted an

"apples-to-oranges" comparison.

He said that after accounting for differences in the plans,

the potential savings fell to just $228.84 annually.

"Competition in the cellular service market is intense and

in some ways zero-sum," Kaplan wrote. "Each provider wants for

itself as many customers as it can get. Customer attention thus

is a commodity and a fleeting one at that... But this legitimate

competition and innovation cannot come at the expense of

truthfulness and accuracy."

Verizon and T-Mobile respectively had 146.9 million and

142.4 million subscribers as of December 31, according to the

companies' financial reports. AT&T ( T ) ranked third with 120.1

million.