Information Technology and Telecommunications

LALIVE provides a comprehensive range of advisory and dispute resolution services in the information technology (IT) and telecommunications sectors, and on related matters such as intellectual property and competition law.


In the IT sector the firm provides advice on issues such as software development, distribution, leases (“shrink-wrap” and “click wrap” licenses) and maintenance, as well as more general e-commerce related issues pertaining to website development, access, hosting, joint venture and affiliation contracts. The firm also provides assistance in online advertising on a range of legal issues.


LALIVE has developed a substantial international practice in the telecommunications sector. The firm provides advisory services regarding the structuring, financing and negotiation of large international telecom transactions in various contexts, such as licences and concession agreements, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, privatisations, bidding processes and public procurement.

 

The firm is also very active in regulatory work in the telecommunications sector. Services include specialised advice on the Swiss and EU regulatory frameworks, best international practices, matters of international investment and trade law, including WTO regulations, as well as legislative, regulatory and institutional reforms.


LALIVE’s clients include local and international telecom operators, carriers, resellers and equipment and services suppliers, international financial institutions, governments, regulatory authorities, international investment banks, investment funds, lenders, as well as telecom consulting firms.


LALIVE has extensive experience in the prevention, management and resolution of disputes in the IT and telecommunications sectors. With respect to IT, these include disputes relating to trademarks, copyright infringements, violations of trade secrets and domain name. In the telecommunications sector, the firm has handled disputes relating in particular to the construction of networks, interconnection agreements, anti-competitive practices and other disputes before telecom regulatory authorities, whether before specific competition tribunals and other jurisdictions, including through arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).


Lawyers of the firm specialising in the IT and telecommunications sectors regularly publish articles and speak at international conferences on current issues.

 

Selected assignments:

 

In the telecommunications sector, representative assignments include:

  • Advising an international investment bank and the Government of an African country on the privatization of the State-owned incumbent telecom operator
  • Advising a North African telecom operator with respect to the setting-up of new telecom networks in a North African country, the negotiation of interconnection agreements, available recourses against anti-competitive practices and other regulatory issues
  • Acting for a telecom services supplier based in a Middle-Eastern country with respect to the negotiation of an agreement for the provision of satellite-based Internet and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services with a Paris-based international satellite communication services provider
  • Advising a Middle-Eastern telecom equipment and services supplier with respect to the negotiation of a co-location agreement with a Canadian company and the preparation of distribution, maintenance and after-sales services agreements with international telecom and IT equipment suppliers
  • Advising the State Committee for Communications of an Eastern European country in relation to the development of the telecom regulatory framework, with a view to the privatization of the State-owned incumbent telecom operator
  • Acting for a Scandinavian telecom services provider in connection with its proposed bid for 51% of the share capital of the State-owned incumbent telecom operator of an African country
  • Acting for an international investment bank with respect to the project financing of an Eastern European GSM telecom operator
  • Advising the Governments of several African, North African and Middle Eastern countries (separate assignments) on the development of their telecom regulatory frameworks (carrier selection and pre-selection, unbundling of the local loop, interconnection, number portability, universal service and access, etc.) and the awarding of public telecom licences and concessions to the private sector (fixed, mobile, data and/or Internet services)
  • Advising a Canadian international telecom carrier with respect to the acquisition of all the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of an IT company
  • Representing a leading European telecommunication company in a US$230 million shareholder dispute with an Asian company before an ICC Tribunal and coordinating enforcement proceedings in Europe an Asia
  • Advising a European mobile telecommunications company in a US$130 million post-acquisition dispute with a US telecommunication company
  • Representing the Swiss subsidiary of an international telecommunications services provider (swichless reseller) against a Swiss telecommunication services provider in the context of an interconnection agreement  


Related areas of practice:
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