Bracewell’s telecommunications lawyers represent companies at the leading edge of the telecommunications industry. These companies provide broadband and other services by wireless radio and over traditional wireline and cable systems. Our clients, for example, are building systems to provide broadband over power lines, WiMAX and other "fourth generation" wireless broadband service. Our clients have been at the forefront of development of roaming and billing systems for the worldwide wireless industry.
Other clients operate and develop telecommunications systems worldwide, and we have significant telecommunications regulatory experience in Europe and Latin America.
We also represent traditional telecommunications companies, including local exchange carriers, long distance carriers, wireless carriers, cable television operators, Internet service providers, broadcasters, industry associations, and large users of telecommunications services.
Some of our partners have served as in-house counsel and in regulatory agencies. Through their business experience and our deep telecommunications regulatory knowledge, we help clients balance marketplace demands with local, state and federal statutes in matters ranging from rate and interconnection issues to mergers and acquisitions.
Regulation
Our telecom lawyers advise and represent clients in Washington, D.C., and in state capitals across the country. In all telecommunications regulatory settings, we provide licensing, rulemaking and enforcement advice and counsel.
We guide clients through the state regulatory commissions on such issues as interconnection, universal service, quality of service, ratemaking, reciprocal compensation, tax and pricing. We represent client interests at all stages in the drafting and approval of legislation and regulation. Our attorneys participate actively in industry coalitions and state-sponsored committees that study industry issues and prepare legislation and administrative rules addressing telecommunications services and products.
Transactions
Bracewell’s telecom lawyers structure and negotiate the full range of landline and wireless telecommunications transactions, from agreements supporting daily operations to billion-dollar asset sales. Our operational experience spans all major technologies, and includes focused industry agreements for:
- Interconnection, resale and unbundling
- Franchise rights
- Network infrastructure
- Technology purchases and licenses
- Roamer issues.
We represent wireless companies nationwide in development and land-use issues involved with siting and building wireless communication towers. We provide advice on negotiating long-term site leases, and on other real-estate related matters such as condemnation and prescriptive easement proceedings.
On the operational side, Bracewell attorneys structure contracts and agreements covering outsourcing, marketing alliances, the provision of wholesale and retail services, and programming content. We help set up competitive arrangements for billing systems, including agreements for software and systems integration, and assist clients with major corporate transactions, including project financings, asset acquisitions and dispositions, and mergers.
Litigation
Our attorneys have successfully prosecuted and defended numerous industry lawsuits. These disputes involve telecom-related intellectual property rights, wireless telephone health claims and other products liability issues, zoning, and class actions involving contract and billing practices, among other issues. We also defend telecommunications clients against consumer complaints lodged with state Public Service Commissions, litigate to prevent the improper imposition of taxes, fees and other extractions by counties and municipalities, and represent telecom companies in litigation and arbitration with subcontractors.