Proposed FCC Rules for Team Telecom Review of Applications with Foreign Ownership, Shorten Timeframes, Add Burdens

By Marty Stern & Rebecca Jacobs


The FCC recently adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) proposing reforms to the Executive Branch “Team Telecom” review process for certain FCC applications and petitions involving foreign ownership. The NPRM seeks to improve the timeliness and transparency of the current “Team Telecom” referral process, which currently can add months, if not indefinitely delay action, on an application.
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Is Putin Right? Will Brexit Drive U.K. Closer to the U.S.?

By Ted Claypoole

Winston Churchill famously described the Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, and, for much of the last century, close economic, intelligence and military ties between the nations have marked a bond between peoples and governments.

The recent UK vote to exit the European Union could drive a wedge between the island nation and its closest neighbors, but will it herald a new focus on North America? The Russians think so. A close Putin associate named Boris Titov celebrated the fact that Europe would be moving away from “the Anglo-Saxons” into a tighter Eurasian confederation. Does this mean that an Anglo-American bloc of UK, Canada and the U.S. will pull closer together?

The US is already the UK’s top export partner, and its second largest import supplier. If UK relationships with Germany, France and the Netherlands suffer from the Brexit, the UK will concentrate its focus West on the US and Canada. The US and UK share a common language, but they also speak a similar business language with a focus on Vehicles, Aircraft, Medical Equipment and Pharmaceuticals, and extraction products led by oil.

We believe this International business partnership will continue to develop, and that the Brexit may speed the pace of growth. Womble Carlyle’s alliance with Bond Dickenson gives us deep understanding into cities and businesses across the UK, developing contacts and understanding of business rules.  We see the opportunity for more business with Britain, even in the face of the Brexit.

What Womble Carlyle Clients Need to know about the U.K. Brexit Vote

In the short term, the U.K.’s unprecedented—and unexpected—vote to exit the European Union creates considerable uncertainty for U.S. companies operating in the U.K., EU and beyond. A wide range of questions has yet to be answered regarding how the U.K. will work with EU nations moving forward, and complex negotiations will be required to resolve those questions.

Last week, Womble Carlyle entered an historic global alliance with leading U.K. firm Bond Dickinson, with the goal of ensuring that both firms’ clients experience outstanding client service on both sides of the Atlantic. The “Brexit” vote provides a perfect illustration of how the Bond Dickinson alliance benefits Womble Carlyle clients.

Bond Dickinson’s team has followed the Brexit question closely, and its attorneys have prepared a great deal of material analyzing the legal, political and economic impact of the vote. By clicking on the link below, you can access Bond Dickinson’s insights about the effect of tariffs, the withdrawal of EU funding, the effect of immigration controls on international recruitment and possible corporate relocation as potential issues that may impact companies in the U.K. and EU markets.

Click here to read “Brexit: Legal implications of the U.K. withdrawal from the EU” from Bond Dickinson.

If you have any questions about this client alert contact Jeff Hay, Global Business Group Leader, at 704.331.4950 or JHay@wcsr.com.