Industries Served
 Communications
We have unparalleled
depth and breadth in
Cable Television,
Telecommunications,
Broadcasting,
Internet, Privacy and e-Commerce, and 700MHz
Energy
Regulatory,
General Business, Corporate & Securities expertise in the Electric, Natural Gas and Transportation industries.
Other
We also represent startup, established and international entities in a varied range of industries.
Practice Groups
Corporate & Securities
Regulatory/Administrative
Privacy, Internet &
e-Commerce
Litigation
Antitrust
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Telecommunications
The firm is comprised of legal practitioners with many years of experience representing communications service providers of all types, particularly broadband service providers and multiple system operators ("MSOs"), as well as large users of communications services. The Group offers state and federal level expertise in the following broad areas: regulatory advocacy; regulatory compliance; litigation; contracts; mergers, acquisitions, and securities; business planning and strategic advice; legislative advocacy; international; corporate finance; wireless (including spectrum auctions); wired communities: intellectual property; and enforcement/investigations.
REGULATORY ADVOCACY
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
LITIGATION
CONTRACTS
ENFORCEMENT/INVESTIGATIONS
BUSINESS PLANNING AND STRATEGIC ASSISTANCE
LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY
CORPORATE FINANCE AND SECURITIES
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
WIRED COMMUNITIES
WIRELESS
INTERNATIONAL
NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES
PRIVACY
OTHER REPRESENTATION
REGULATORY ADVOCACY
The firm represents clients in rulemaking, investigative, and other administrative proceedings before the state public utility commissions and the Federal Communications Commission. Many of our lawyers have been key participants in generic and other administrative proceedings arising out of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the "Telecom Act"), including but not limited to those dealing with intercarrier compensation; the Regional Bell Operating Companies' compliance with section 271 of the 1996 Act; performance metrics and self-executing enforcement mechanisms; unbundling; interconnection; collocation; resale; pricing and rates for the incumbent local exchange carriers' ("incumbent LECs") retail services and network facilities; separate affiliates; operations support systems ("OSS"); rights-of-way; pole attachments; and franchises. Our lawyers have held senior positions in government, industry associations, and the private sector.
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REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
The firm assists communications service providers subject to the panoply of state and federal requirements. We assist clients in complying with state and federal fee, reporting, performance, operating, periodic filing, and other requirements, as they relate to, among other things, telecommunications relay service ("TRS"), universal service fund ("USF"), 911/E911, number portability, truth in billing, slamming, quality of service, customer privacy/customer proprietary network information ("CPNI"), law enforcement (CALEA), caller ID, and others. We also assist clients in obtaining local franchises.
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LITIGATION
The firm represents clients in telecommunications-related litigation, with particular emphasis on interconnection arbitrations, appeals of state public utility commission decisions, billing and collections, breach of contract, tariff enforcement, performance standards, intercarrier compensation, antitrust/unfair trade practice, and other competition-related issues. We have successfully litigated before virtually all of the state public utility commissions, the FCC, and many state and federal trial and appellate courts. Our litigation experience also encompasses transactional disputes between communications carriers. More recently, we obtained a major arbitration award on behalf of a communications client in a case involving disputed regulatory liabilities relating to the sale of access lines from one carrier to another.
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CONTRACTS
The firm has drafted and negotiated interconnection agreements under section 251/252 of the Telecom Act on behalf of competitive local exchange carriers. In this regard, we have dealt with virtually all of the largest incumbent LECs and RBOCs, past and present, including GTE, SNET, Sprint, Bell Atlantic, Verizon, SBC, Nynex, BellSouth, Ameritech, US West, Qwest, Cincinnati Bell, SWBT, and others. We also prepare and negotiate virtually all types of commercial agreements on behalf of local exchange, interexchange, payphone, operator service, wireless, shared tenant, Internet, equipment, and other providers.
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ENFORCEMENT/INVESTIGATIONS
The firm regularly represents clients in show-cause, enforcement, investigative, forfeiture, and other proceedings before government agencies. We have assisted clients in responding to Civil Investigative Demands issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. We have also successfully prosecuted and defended cases before the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. As part of the FCC's pre-complaint mediation process, we have successfully assisted clients in settlement negotiations with other carriers thereby obviating the need to file a formal FCC complaint. We have also represented clients in investigations and proceedings initiated by state attorneys general in the areas of slamming, truth in billing, and other consumer protection-related issues.
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BUSINESS PLANNING AND STRATEGIC ASSISTANCE
The firm assists communications service providers, both old and new, in developing their business plans, including entry and exit strategies. We provide legal assistance from the early stages of business formation through multistate rollout and actual operations, including but not limited to, preparing and prosecuting state and federal certifications; preparing and filing tariffs; negotiating all types of telecommunications-related agreements; and securing other authorizations required by state, federal, and local governments. In addition, we regularly provide our clients with up-to-the-minute analyses of regulatory and technology developments and their implications on the market in general, and the clients' business in particular.
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LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY
The firm regularly assists our clients in advocating their positions before the U.S. Congress and state legislatures. Many of our lawyers were intimately involved in the legislative process leading up to the passage of the Telecom Act (including the predecessor bills) and other telecommunications-related legislations.
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CORPORATE FINANCE AND SECURITIES
The firm provides advice to carriers relating to financing, issuance of securities, and initial public offerings.
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MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
The firm advises clients on matters related to mergers, acquisitions, and consolidations in the communications industry.
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WIRED COMMUNITIES
The firm has established a specialized focus on "wired communities" and the relationship between telecommunications and real estate. The wired community paradigm consists of incorporating the private provision of a customized suite of telecommunications services into real estate developments. The services typically include high-speed broadband services provided through fiber-to-the-home; digital quality cable television; traditional telephone service; a community intranet (including links to schools, retail, civic, recreation, etc.), and other applications, such as security, and home automation. In this matter, the development or community becomes known, and can be designated, as a "wired community." The firm, along with its real estate developer and builder, and service provider clients, pioneered the "wired community" concept and is a leader in the creation of wired communities nationwide. We have represented real estate developers, builders, and service providers in multiple and complex wired community transactions "from start to finish," including evaluating and developing the conceptual wired community approach and evaluating a variety of potential providers of the underlying communications services. We have also represented wired community service provider interests before various regulatory commissions, and have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with service providers of telecommunications and related services to real estate interests on a range of issues relevant to their successful deployment. Consequently, we bring to the table an appreciation of the issues in both in a policy and "real world' context and a depth of experience from "both sides" of the wired community table unmatched in the field.
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WIRELESS
Our wireless representation encompasses cellular, personal communications service (PCS), common-carrier paging, specialized mobile radio (SMR), local multipoint distribution system (LMDS), point-to-point microwave and other new and emerging technologies, such as municipal Wi-Fi and WiMax. We provide guidance regarding regulatory requirements for a broad spectrum of entities, from start-up wireless service providers to other communications providers that are looking to add a wireless revenue stream to their businesses. In addition, we have extensive experience in spectrum auctions, including providing guidance on structuring entities to comply with the FCC's designated entity rules. We have been involved in FCC spectrum auctions since the first auction in 1994.
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INTERNATIONAL
The firm's international practice focuses on the satellite and earth station industry, foreign carrier entry into the United States, and U.S. carrier entry into foreign markets. In addition, we assist clients to obtain international licenses and authorizations, monitors and analyzes U.S. laws and polices governing international telecommunications, as well as foreign telecommunications laws and regulations, and advise clients of developments within international bodies such as the International Telecommunications Union, the World Radiocommunications Conference, and the World Trade Organization.
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NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES
The firm advises clients on a wide variety of legal and business issues involving new services and technologies, including but not limited to, the Internet and Internet Protocol-enabled services, broadband services, and managed networks, such as developing strategies for new ventures to take advantage of the growth of the Internet including Voice-over-Internet Protocol ("VoIP"); negotiating and preparing agreements for Internet transmission facilities, drafting subscription agreements for Internet service providers (ISPs); and advising clients on the federal and state regulations of ISPs/enhanced service providers and access arrangements with local exchange company networks. With the recent explosion of mobile broadband services, the firm also provides counsel regarding the application of federal and state laws (including Federal Trade Commission requirements) to companies launching new mobile applications for use with wireless devices.
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PRIVACY
The firm provides legal counsel relating to privacy matters, particularly as it relates to the collection, maintenance, safe-keeping, use, and disclosure of confidential customer proprietary information. We assist clients in establishing and implementing internal mechanisms to ensure compliance with privacy laws and regulations, while protecting against exposure from privacy violations.
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OTHER REPRESENTATION
The firm has been involved in addressing issues related to e-Commerce, piracy, privacy, law enforcement monitoring of communications, consumer protection, and other sensitive issues. In addition, on behalf of communications carriers, we have prosecuted and defended requests under the federal Freedom of Information Act and analogous state statutes.
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