Telecommunications

CONTACTS:
Michele C. Farquhar, Washington, D.C.
Gabriela Kennedy, Hong Kong
Conor Ward, London

Companies operating in the telecommunications sector face increasing competition and an ever-changing regulatory environment. Hogan Lovells’ telecommunications lawyers possess an in-depth understanding of the sector, working closely with cable, mobile, satellite, and all types of advanced broadband network operators; internet service and content providers; broadcasters and media companies; equipment providers and other vendors; as well as with regulators, government bodies, and investors in the sector.

With the firm’s strategic positioning in 40 offices worldwide, our telecommunications practice is among the most interconnected in the world. This global reach, combined with our extensive experience, allows us to serve clients in an industry that is ever more complex, increasingly reliant on cross-border transactions, and subject to regulations at multiple jurisdictional levels.

Lawyers in our regulatory practice advise on spectrum auctions, licensing, and allocation; regulatory compliance; security issues; procurement; and antitrust. Our commercial lawyers advise on multi-jurisdictional licensing projects, lease and network use agreements, interconnection agreements, infrastructure sharing, pole and duct rights, procurements and financing agreements, and on other commercial transactions.

Content licensing and branding agreements, an increasingly important issue, are handled by our intellectual property practice, while our technology lawyers advise on metering and billing technology and on information technology outsourcing. Our project finance lawyers advise participants in telecommunications projects, including promoters, sponsors, and funders.

We advise on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances, handling both the corporate aspects and the associated regulatory and competition approvals. In addition, we are ideally placed to advise on any restructuring, securitization, or insolvency issues. Our litigation practice handles both commercial disputes and challenges to regulation at national and international levels.

• Michele Farquhar, Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary and Chief of Staff for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Vice President for Law and Regulatory Policy at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA)
• Ari Fitzgerald, legal advisor to former FCC Chairman William Kennard, Deputy Chief of the FCC's International Bureau
• Daniel Brenner, senior legal advisor to former FCC Chairman Mark Fowler, head of regulatory and legal affairs with the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)

• Top-tier for TMT: Telecommunications in France, Chambers Europe, 2012
• Ranked as a leading Telecom, Broadcast and Satellite: Regulatory practice, Chambers USA, 2012
• Recognized Global and Europe-wide Technology and Communications practice, Chambers Global, 2012