Telecommunications

For more information about this practice area, please contact William Adams or Dane Stinson.

Bailey Cavalieri's telecommunications practice area offers a wide range of services at all levels of government and business. Our focus is on representing clients' business and regulatory interests before state regulatory agencies, state and federal courts, in contract negotiations, and alternative dispute resolution proceedings. Our attorneys' experience includes wholesale and retail rate regulation; local interconnection negotiations, mediations and arbitrations; service quality issues; certifications; rulemaking; and the prosecution and defense of competitor and consumer complaints.

Our attorneys are versed in traditional utility regulation and, since passage of the seminal Telecommunications Act of 1996, have assisted competitive local exchange carriers ("CLECs") enter and operate in Ohio's markets. We served as national coordinating counsel for a large telecommunications company in its expansion to become a national local exchange carrier. In addition, we have represented incumbent local exchange companies ("ILECs") interests in meeting new entrants' competitive challenges. We also have assisted interexchange carriers ("IXCs") enter and operate in Ohio's markets.

Our attorneys represented our clients' interests in the extensive rulemakings before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ("PUCO") that restructured the local exchange market. Our involvement has continued as the markets evolve and regulations are revised to accommodate the maturation of competition in this state.

We have assisted our clients in navigating PUCO regulations and in protecting our clients' interests in court. Our activities have included:

• Representing a large local exchange company in a case seeking alternative regulation of retail rates, including defending an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court;
• Representing a large local exchange company in a PUC service quality investigation;
• Representing clients in state TELRIC proceedings establishing rates for unbundled network elements;
• Representing clients in PUC interconnection mediations and arbitrations;
• Representing a client in a complaint case seeking to provide a level competitive playing field;
• Representing clients in the formulation of PUCO's competitive local exchange and interexchange administrative rules;
• Representing a client in protecting trade secret cost models from public records request disclosure; and
• Initiating a successful suit in the Ohio Supreme Court to prevent the PUCO from taking action contrary to our clients' interests.

While maintaining these skills to protect our clients' legal interests arising from state agency regulation, we also counsel our clients on their rights, options, and consequences (both regulatory and business) in resolving the myriad day-to-day competitive issues that arise in the new competitive environment.