Our telecommunications, media, and Internet team has helped to guide clients through the regulatory, marketplace, and technological transformation of the wireline market, and we remain at the forefront of these continuing developments, assisting clients in meeting the challenges of tomorrow's environment. Our clients include AT&T Inc. (formerly SBC Communications Inc.), which is the nation's largest provider of wireline telephone and broadband services to both consumers and businesses. We served as that company's lead FCC counsel for its recent merger with BellSouth and in all of its previous mergers and acquisitions, including AT&T Corp., Ameritech, SNET, and Pacific Telesis. We also represented SBC in its strategic alliance with Williams Communications, its acquisition of Sterling Commerce, and in various other transactions with regulatory implications. In addition, we have assisted AT&T (formerly SBC) in numerous other FCC proceedings and have provided an array of regulatory and strategic advice. We also have extensive experience in representing AT&T (formerly SBC) and other carriers that seek to deploy or to acquire rights to use submarine cables.
We have represented providers of long distance telephone services, providers of fiber optic transmission capacity, VoIP providers, and others in starting their companies. We have advised on regulatory compliance, contract negotiations, securities compliance, litigation, and more. We also have assisted a variety of clients negotiating contracts to acquire telecommunications services.
Our partners include a former Chief of the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau, which was the principal regulator of wireline carriers; a former Chief of the Communications and Finance Section of the Antitrust Division, which was responsible for the Department of Justice's review of all telecommunications transactions and conduct; a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General; and a former general counsel for AT&T Canada, which was a leading long distance carrier in Canada.