In reaction to the Verizon and MetroPCS lawsuits filed against the new “net neutrality” regulations of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the agency said on Friday that the lawsuits had been “filed prematurely.”

The initial lawsuit papers filed by Verizon on January 20, and by MetroPCS a few days later, alleged that the FCC’s Open Internet move “goes well beyond any authority provided by Congress, and creates uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers.”

Responding to the lawsuits, the FCC said in a filing with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Friday that the appeals by Verizon and MetroPCS were filed before the publishing of the net neutrality regulations in the Federal Register. Hence, as per the FCC, the appeals are premature as well as invalid.

In its filing, the FCC said: “An appeal filed prior to Federal Register publication of the challenged order is ‘incurably premature’. That settled principle requires dismissal of MetroPCS's notice of appeal at this time because it was filed too early, although MetroPCS may pursue a timely challenge to the Open Internet Order after its publication.”

While Verizon and MetroPCS argued that the FCC had no authority in handing down its December net neutrality regulations, the FCC has been reiterating that certain provisions in the Communications Act give the agency the right to regulate broadband.