In response to a new advertising campaign being aired by Verizon (News - Alert), cable provider Cablevision Systems has filed a lawsuit to put the kabash on the company’s FiOS (News - Alert) commercials, which allegedly makes false claims regarding Cablevision’s high-speed Internet service.

In the ad, Verizon – which touts its FiOS cable/Internet/phone service – cites data supplied by the Federal Communications Commission that claims Cablevision’s Internet service only runs at 59 percent of its purported Internet speeds during peak hours.

The FCC study, which was released in August, shows that Cablevision’s older hardware means that many users have found significantly slower than advertised speeds. However in a blog post, Joel Gurin, chief of the FCC’s (News - Alert) consumer and governmental affairs bureau wrote that Cablevision “markedly improved” its average download speeds in October.

Cablevision, meanwhile, noted that the FCC recently reported that Cablevision is delivering substantially faster Internet speeds than Verizon’s advertisements claim they are.

“Cablevision’s average download speeds are in excess of 90 percent of advertised broadband speeds during peak hours of use, and are above 100 percent of advertised speeds on a 24-hour basis,” according to a statement released by Cablevision on Dec. 6. “Despite being fully aware of these facts, Verizon has refused to stop running its ads.”

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, seeks to end the advertising campaign. Cablevision said Verizon has intentionally made “false and misleading claims related to Cablevision’s high-speed Internet service.”

Cablevision officials said this week that the cable company had discussions with Verizon prior to filing suit, and continued to run the ad campaign anyway.

“Despite extensive communication between Cablevision and Verizon, and Verizon’s knowledge that the advertising is false, the phone company has continued its campaign on television, radio, print, in direct mail and on its website,” Cablevision said in its statement.

Subscribers to Cablevision’s 15Mbps service were receiving average download speeds during peaks hours at over 90 percent of the advertised speed, according to Fierce Cable.