Publications | Service Area Brochures | Telecommunications
Telecommunications
In the 1870 s, two inventors – Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell – independently designed devices that could transmit speech electrically (the telephone). Both men rushed their respective designs to the patent office within hours of each other, but Bell patented his telephone first. Gray and Bell then entered into a famous legal battle over the invention of the telephone. Bell won.
New challenges need innovative solutions
In the 1870 s, two inventors – Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell – independently designed devices that could transmit speech electrically (the telephone). Both men rushed their respective designs to the patent office within hours of each other, but Bell patented his telephone first. Gray and Bell then entered into a famous legal battle over the invention of the telephone. Bell won.
Bell won…but these days keeping ahead of the pack in the telecommunications industry requires not only grappling with new technology but also new products and services, marketing channels and regulations. These challenges demand clever legal solutions. That’s where we come in.
Our team has been delivering innovative legal solutions to the telecommunications industry for nearly 20 years. This experience allows us to identify key issues, anticipate future changes and use our knowledge to develop strategies that work.
Middletons has advised on every phase of market deregulation from the 1989 Act to the present day. Our telecommunications team has worked on all major commercial developments over the last two decades including:
-
the second carrier licence tender
-
the satellite Pay TV tender
-
the establishment of Australia’s 3rd mobile carrier
-
the introduction of private networks
-
the establishment of networks by international carriers
-
large regulatory disputes
-
design and implementation of Fibre to the Home projects
-
industry consolidation and rationalisation
-
the introduction of broadband and wireless 3G networks.
We’ve seen it all and have worked closely with some of the world’s largest telcos from Britain, Europe, North America and Japan as well as new Australian companies.
Commercial
We have drafted and advised on the full range of telecommunications agreements for both telcos and customers, including agreements dealing with interconnection and access, land access, bandwidth, network rollout, private networks, hardware acquisition, co-location, new software systems, wholesale and resale, customer contracts and 3G content services.
Regulatory
We know your industry and we speak your language.
Whether you need regulatory advice on a new product, a strategy to deal with anti-competitive conduct or assistance with a regulatory enquiry, we can assist. Middletons advises on the full range of regulatory issues ranging from carrier licensing, to land access to anti-competitive conduct to regulations governing mobile chat services.
We have assisted clients in resolving large commercial disputes relating to wholesale billing, access and anti-competitive conduct. Our team advises both local and international telcos in addition to assisting other law firms that have clients requiring specialist regulatory advice.
