Communications Law

The Firm's communications practice group represents and provides legal counseling to municipalities and providers throughout the country on a broad range of communications matters, including cable television, broadcasting, common carriage, telephony, private radio, fiber optics and emerging wireless technologies, with particular emphasis on issues pertaining to the deployment of state-of-the-art broadband networks. The Firm routinely represents clients before the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") in all phases of regulation and regulated transactions, including licensing, adjudication, rule making, and regulatory compliance, and has extensive experience in the financing, development and implementation of communications networks, including franchising, rights-of-way and pole attachment matters.

Duncan, Weinberg, Genzer & Pembroke provides a full range of legal services to telecommunications providers, regulators and users that includes:

• Legal and business support for the financing, development, deployment and expansion of broadband fiber optic communications systems, with significant experience in municipal and utility affiliated broadband networks
• Advice to municipalities and municipal electric utility clients on the application of new communications technologies
• Consultation respecting emerging BPL ("Broadband over Power Lines") and digital wireless technologies
• Consultation respecting Internet-protocol services, including IPTV, VoIP, and data transmission
  
• Advice, analysis and negotiation respecting cable television franchising, open video system agreements, franchise renewal, rate regulation, implementation and enforcement of customer service standards, signal carriage, and related issues that arise under federal, state, and local laws
• Advice, analysis and negotiation respecting pole attachment, conduit occupancy, rights-of-way use, private easement and building access agreements, and related environmental, permitting and performance bonding concerns
• Advice, analysis and negotiation respecting agreements for programming and other content
• Advocacy to the FCC, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice Antitrust Division, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Congress, and state and local government bodies on the unique interests of municipal and utility affiliated and other competitive broadband communications providers
• Representation of bidders in FCC auctions for licenses
• Representation of broadcasting interests before the FCC

Duncan, Weinberg, Genzer & Pembroke assists providers, regulators and users of communications services, including state and local governments, and municipal and cooperative utilities, with all of their communications regulatory and business needs.