Trade association USTelecom has filed a supplementary petition against the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) recently approved net neutrality ruling.
The association stated that it had filed the suit in the US Court of Appeals for District of…
Trade association USTelecom has filed a supplementary petition against the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) recently approved net neutrality ruling.
The association stated that it had filed the suit in the US Court of Appeals for District of Columbia, challenging the FCC’s order on the grounds that it is “arbitrary and capricious and violates federal law”.
USTelecom described the suit as a “supplementary petition” to the one it filed with the court in late March, saying the court has encouraged petitioners to submit such documents in cases where the “triggering event” for suing is unclear.
USTelecom president Walter McCormick said the association, which represents large telcos such as AT&T and Verizon, believes the FCC took the wrong approach to implementing net neutrality standards.
“Our appeal is not focused on challenging the objectives articulated by the president, but instead the unjustifiable shift backward to common carrier regulation after more than a decade of significantly expanded broadband access and services for customers under light-touch regulation.”
In the association’s view, reclassifying broadband internet as a public utility reverses decades of legal precedent at the FCC, upheld by the Supreme Court.
“History has shown that common carrier regulation slows innovation, chills investment and leads to increased costs on consumers. The commission’s overreach is not only legally unsustainable, it is unwise given the enormous success of the commission’s Title I approach for consumers, businesses and internet entrepreneurs …”
Meanwhile, CTIA-The Wireless Association, which represents the mobile communications sector, has filed a lawsuit with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the FCC ruling.
CTIA chairman Ron Smith, also CEO of Bluegrass Cellular, commented: “With today’s filing, CTIA seeks to protect the competitive mobile marketplace that thrived under a deregulatory framework for decades. The FCC’s new internet rules are full service regulations that will harm mobile consumers and providers across the country, as well as our nation’s wireless future.”
The new FCC net neutrality ruling, which reclassifies ISPs as common carriers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, was approved in February and published yesterday in the Federal Register.
FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has been cited saying he expects litigation over the new ruling but that it will be successfully defended.
The ruling has attracted strong criticism from telcos, cablecos and market observers, including Verizon and Comcast.
The FCC was not immediately available for comment.
