AT&T, the CTIA wireless trade association as well as the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and the American Cable Association launched lawsuits Tuesday against the FCC’s recently passed “net neutrality” rules. But in a speech at a broadband “summit” in Austin, Texas, the FCC chair defended the rules.

Given that AT&T is still seeking FCC approval for its $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV, The Wall Street Journal described AT&T’s decision to file its own lawsuit rather than being represented by trade groups as a “surprise.”

The first suit against the FCC rules was filed by the USTelecom trade group, which represents AT&T and Verizon among others, on Monday.

In the filing, the group called the FCC’s action “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion … [and] violates federal law, including, but not limited to, the Constitution, the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and FCC regulations promulgated thereunder; conflicts with the notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements … and is otherwise contrary to law.”

The FCC rules were officially published Monday in the Federal register, triggering a 60-day review period and thus setting the stage for the lawsuits. USTelecom and a small Texas company initially sued in March.

AT&T filed a separate suit the next day, and the CTIA joined in.

“The move Tuesday was a surprise, because most expected companies would let their industry groups handle the legal challenge< The Journal reported. “The suit pits AT&T against the Federal Communications Commission, which put forward the net neutrality rules and is reviewing the carrier’s proposed $49 billion acquisition of satellite television provider DirecTV.”

CTIA Chairman Ron Smith, who also is CEO of Bluegrass Cellular, declared:

“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.”

“Instead of letting consumers decide the success of new, innovative mobile services, government bureaucrats will now play that role. National, regional and rural wireless carriers will spend substantial time and resources trying to comply with the new vague and overbroad rules. CTIA’s member companies should be focused on meeting consumers’ growing demand for mobile data and creating new offerings.”

The FCC is not intimidated, however.

“As Chairman [Tom] Wheeler has said, we are confident the FCC’s new Open Internet rules will be upheld by the courts, ensuring enforceable protections for consumers and innovators online,” Kim Hart, an FCC spokeswoman, said in a statement as cited by CNET.

FCC chair defends rules

And in his speech, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler called the new rules fair, adding that they will encourage broadband investment and competition.

“Again, we want fast, fair, and open networks. We don’t get fast networks without private investment. That’s why I made it clear that our Open Internet Order must achieve two equally important goals: assuring consumers’ and innovators’ right to use the Internet without interference from gatekeepers; while also creating conditions that enable economic returns as an incentive for infrastructure investment,” Wheeler said.

“Ultimately, we determined that the best way to achieve both goals was to adopt new rules using modernized Title II authority. This light-touch regulatory approach was modeled after the Title II rules for the mobile voice industry, which went hand-in-hand with hundreds of billions in network investment.”

(You can read Wheeler’s entire speech at: http://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-wheeler-broadband-communities-summit-austin-tx)