Court dismisses Verizon, MetroPCS net neutrality suits

In the first challenge to the FCC's net neutrality rules, it appears that the FCC has scored the first point as a federal appeals court threw out lawsuits filed by both MetroPCS and Verizon (NYSE: VZ), arguing that the lawsuits were "premature."

The Appeals for the District of Columbia said that service providers challenged the rules before they were published in the Federal Register.

Of course, this battle is far from over as Verizon indicated it will refile its complaint against the FCC's rules for wireless and wireline networks.

Verizon spokesman Ed McFadden told FierceTelecom's sister publication FierceWireless that when the rules are published in the Federal Register, Verizon intends to refile its lawsuit against the FCC. MetroPCS, however, would not comment on the ruling.

Both Verizon and Metro PCS said that the FCC does not have the right to impose or enforce rules on how they manage traffic on their respective networks.

For more:
- Wall Street Journal has this article (sub. req.)
- Here's FierceWireless' take

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