US carrier Verizon Communications filed a legal challenge on Thursday to rules approved by US telecom regulators designed to ensure an open Internet.
Verizon said in a statement that it was filing a lawsuit with the US Court of Appeals in Washington over the rules approved last month by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
"We are deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the Internet itself," Verizon senior vice president and deputy general counsel Michael Glover said.
"We believe this assertion of authority goes well beyond any authority provided by Congress, and creates uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers," Glover said.
The five-member FCC agreed in December to the rules aimed at safeguarding "network neutrality," the principle that lawful Web traffic should be treated equally.
The three Democrats on the five-member FCC panel voted in favor of the rules, which are also facing Republican opposition in Congress, while the two Republicans voted against them.
The rules are a balancing act by the FCC between support for consumers and the cable and telephone companies that are the US Internet service providers.
The FCC drafted the rules after suffering a legal setback in April when a court ruled that it had not been granted the authority by Congress to regulate the network management practices of Internet service providers.
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