Sectors

Communications

Our expertise:

We have unrivalled experience in this sector in Ireland. Our clients include major network, broadcasting and media operators as well as regulators and other state bodies.

We continue to focus on the implications of the European Electronic Communications Code, which updates and consolidates the EU electronic communications regulatory framework and significantly strengthens the enforcement powers of ComReg, including giving it the power to impose significant fines subject to High Court confirmation. We also focus on the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022 which transposes Directive 2019/1 (ECN+ Directive) into Irish law and expands the powers of ComReg to enforce European and Irish competition law. 

We cover the full range of transactional, regulatory and contentious work, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, financing, joint ventures and access agreements. We also deal with statutory appeals, judicial reviews, competition complaints and regulatory compliance matters.

Key areas:

• Irish and EU regulatory and licensing/authorisation requirements
• Interconnection and access 
• Market reviews, dominance/SMP issues 
• Network provision and roll-out 
• Wireless spectrum allocation 
• Property and planning law issues 
• Contractual issues, including supply terms and conditions 
• Consumer protection 
• Data protection and privacy 
• Information society legislation and policy 
• Outsourcing 
• EU audio visual policy, including television without frontiers 
• Public service obligations and USO 
• State aid 

Key highlights include advising:

• ComReg in relation to a number of statutory appeals in the Commercial List of the High Court.
• AMP Capital Investors (UK) Limited in connection with the sale of Towercom Limited by AMP as infrastructure manager of the IIF.
• Nostra, one of the country’s largest Irish-owned managed services IT providers, in connection with its acquisition of Passax Business Systems, a provider of telecoms and cloud-based PBX solutions.
• Vodafone GmbH in Commercial Court proceedings against Intellectual Ventures concerning claims by Vodafone GmbH that Intellectual Ventures is abusing a dominant position by the manner in which it is conducting FRAND licensing negotiations in respect of patents related to digital subscriber line technology which have been declared to be Standard Essential Patents in the telecommunications field.
• Vodafone Group plc, as Irish counsel, in respect of the partial divestment of its indirect shareholdings in Vantage Towers AG, a German listed stock corporation, via the establishment of a co-controlled joint venture company with an investor.