WASHINGTON – Some military families will get a gift this season thanks to a settlement between AT&T and the state of Maryland.

Between 2007 and 2013, AT&T advertised prepaid calling cards for a given number of minutes. But a minute didn’t always equal a minute.

“For every minute that somebody used on the phone, three minutes would come off the card. And people were unaware of that,” said Attorney General Doug Gansler.

“Lower down and [in] smaller print it would say state rates may vary and then in tiny, tiny print on the back it would say in-state rates may be higher.”

In the settlement, AT&T agreed it will stop this practice and award $125,000 in calling cards that Gansler says will go to either military installments in Maryland or charities that support veterans or members of the armed forces and their families.

From now on, anytime someone buys an AT&T calling card, one minute will equal one minute.

Read more information on the Maryland website.

WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report. Follow @KateRyanWTOP and @WTOP on Twitter.