Telecommunications Antitrust

With one of the country's premier communications regulatory practice groups, Mintz Levin represents competitors in this industry ranging from emerging entrants to established players.  We recognize that competition policy issues can arise in the course of transactions as well as multiparty disputes.  We know the interplay between the enforcement of antitrust laws and the regulatory and legislative arenas.  We have worked with telecommunications, cable, wireless, and Internet clients to obtain approval for or conditioning of government rejection of mergers.  Our experience includes joint ventures, distribution issues, pricing issues, antitrust compliance programs, white-collar criminal and grand jury investigations, and legislative issues.  We have represented clients in connection with investigations and litigation brought by the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and state attorneys general throughout the country.

We regard questions involving the antitrust laws as business questions, not antitrust questions.  We understand that these questions often do not arise from a "still-life" portrait.  Rather, they usually emerge from a fast-paced, dynamic, competitive environment.  The goal of any review of these questions is to meet our clients business goals consistent with the antitrust laws.

The scope of our experience and the types of clients we counsel are broad.  Representative matters in which Mintz Levin's attorneys have experience include developing successful strategies to resolve government antitrust concerns and eliminate the need to respond to second requests in acquisitions in the cable television industry, including both cable operators and programmers.  Representative antitrust litigation matters in which Mintz Levin's attorneys have been involved include representation of one of the nation's most prominent record labels in various antitrust investigations of the record industry and representation of a major cable television provider in connection with a high-profile merger proceeding before the Department of Justice and state attorneys general.  In addition, we have advised various investment banking clients with respect to issues of risk in connection with communications transactions.