BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The agency that provides 911 services in Birmingham says a communications firm failed to pay legally required fees to help fund the emergency operations.

The Birmingham Emergency Communications District says in a federal lawsuit filed this week that Bandwidth.com failed to collect 911 charges on phone lines it provided to customers.

Birmingham’s 911 agency says the company was then able to offer service at a lower cost than telephone companies that complied with Alabama law. The agency says Bandwidth.com misled them by making it appear they offered far less telephone service in Birmingham than they actually did.

Bandwidth.com didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

In January, a group of Georgia cities and counties in Columbus, Macon and metro Atlanta filed a similar lawsuit against Raleigh, North Carolina-based Bandwidth.com.