Telecommunications Law

Luther has a broad wealth of proven experience in telecommunications law. Based on our renowned legal expertise and our economic and technical understanding, we can always provide our clients with the best possible solutions, enabling them to successfully achieve their targets. We have for years been providing effective legal advice in the area of telecommunications law to leading telecommunications providers, network operators and other service providers.

Telecommunication has a decisive impact on our everyday life, as well as on business life. Current crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic with its multiple implications, including the accelerated development towards mobile working and working from home and the higher degree of collaboration among companies and people on a digital level, demonstrate the paramount importance of telecommunication and its significance for a society’s overall economic prosperity.

We can provide advice at all stages of a project, from the planning stage before entering the market to the commencement of operations, where we can help apply for the required permits, amongst other things, and also during operations, for example in connection with ongoing administration and optimisation or when examining a company’s activities in the light of upcoming changes in law.

Due to its great importance, the telecommunications sector continues to be highly regulated, and frequent changes in law require market actors to be able to react quickly.

Our team ensures that our clients comply with all applicable regulatory requirements and, what is more, that they can operate in the best possible manner within the limits defined by these requirements. For this is the standard we have set for ourselves: providing top-quality advice that will ultimately make the difference for our clients.

Especially the infrastructure development in Germany, which has a significant bearing on the entire German economy, presents new challenges but also great opportunities. As one of the most important industrialised countries in the world, the Federal Republic is committed to significantly accelerating the development of high-speed networks with a view to remaining economically competitive in the long run.

Fibre technology plays a key role in this process. In this future-oriented area, we have a comprehensive understanding of technical issues and great legal expertise and skills, which we use for the benefit of our clients when providing legal services.

By combining the multiple areas of expertise (including data protection, technology, real estate, etc.) of our law firm, we can provide our clients with unparalleled, comprehensive legal advice that covers all issues.

This offers numerous advantages to our clients that make the difference in particular in important, complex projects: we ensure we provide quick and practical top-quality advice that leads to the desired results without ever losing sight of the big picture.

 

Our range of advisory services

Fibre/broadband roll-out
  • Providing public procurement law advice (notably at the municipal level)
  • Providing regulatory advice, including on critical infrastructure
  • Advising on bidding processes for the development of a fibre/broadband infrastructure
  • Advising on and drafting the relevant contracts, including:
    • technical office agreements
    • construction/general contractor agreements
    • point of presence (PoP) service agreements
    • overhead line monitoring contracts
    • dark fibre leases
    • internet service provider (ISP) contracts
    • home connection contracts
    • fibre to the fence (FTTF) agreements
    • wholesale/wholebuy agreements
    • distribution agreementspermission of use agreements (formerly, landowner’s declarations)
  • Software as a service (SaaS) agreements
  • Agreements under data protection law
Regulatory law
  • Advising on the reform of the German Telecommunications Act
  • Applying for permits under the German Telecommunications Act
  • Advising on reporting requirements
  • Advising on the use and allocation of frequencies
Drafting and negotiating telecommunications-related contracts
  • Wireless access network (WAN)
  • Information technology (IT) provider agreements
  • Managed network services
  • Mobile services
Innovation
  • Internet of things (IoT)
  • Smart devices
  • Connected car
Data protection
  • Secrecy of telecommunications
  • Data processing agreements
  • Compliance

Key Contact >>

Key Contact

Dr Wulff-Axel Schmidt

Partner

T +49 69 27229 27078

Dr Michael Rath

Partner

T +49 221 9937 25795

Dr Stephan Rippert LL.M.

Partner

T +49 89 237140