Long Bio | Christine M. Crowe has over 20 years of experience counseling clients in the communications industry on a broad array of transactional, policy and regulatory matters. She has significant transactional expertise, having advised communications companies on mergers and acquisitions, spectrum leasing, financing transactions involving public and private debt and equity offerings, and inter-carrier agreements.
Ms. Crowe advises clients on a variety of policy and regulatory matters affecting the telecommunications industry, including those relating to spectrum allocation and use, spectrum assignment through competitive bidding (auctions), secondary markets, infrastructure deployment, limitations on foreign ownership in FCC licenses, and various FCC reporting and compliance requirements. She co-chairs the Firm’s Tower Siting and Infrastructure practice and works with clients to provide both strategic counsel regarding the development of policies to promote infrastructure deployment and regulatory compliance advice regarding specific facility deployments. She also has extensive experience related to FCC spectrum auctions, compliance with the FCC’s anti-collusion rule, auction procedures, and the complex designated entity (DE) rules, including formation of DE structures and secondary market transactions involving spectrum subject to the DE rules.
Standard Bio | Christine M. Crowe has over 20 years of experience counseling clients in the communications industry on a broad array of transactional, policy and regulatory matters. She has substantial transaction expertise, having advised communications companies on mergers and acquisitions, spectrum leasing, and financing transactions involving public and private debt and equity offerings. She assists clients in the negotiation and resolution of issues, drafts and advises on transaction documents, and provides guidance regarding federal and state compliance issues and regulatory approvals related to the transaction.
Ms. Crowe has worked extensively on inter-carrier agreements such as roaming, resale/MVNO, site lease and master lease agreements, construction, management, and customer agreements. She also has negotiated several interconnection, UNE and collocation agreements on behalf of wireless carriers and competitive local exchange carriers, and has participated in state-run arbitrations and federal court litigation relating to such agreements.
Ms. Crowe advises clients on a variety of policy and regulatory matters affecting the telecommunications industry. She co-chairs the Firm’s Tower Siting and Infrastructure practice and provides strategic advice regarding policies to foster infrastructure deployment, including those arising out of the 2012 Spectrum Act. She also provides regulatory/compliance counseling related to the FCC’s environmental review rules, its Part 17 marking/lighting rules, and the Section 106 historic review process.
Ms. Crowe provides advice to clients regarding spectrum allocation and use, spectrum assignment through competitive bidding (auctions), and secondary markets. She has assisted clients in connection with spectrum clearing efforts, cost-sharing obligations, and efforts to transition incumbents from reallocated spectrum. She counsels clients on the limitations on foreign ownership in FCC licenses and on structuring investments and ownership to comply with Section 310 of the Communications Act, and has represented companies in connection with Team Telecom reviews of proposed foreign ownership structures. She also advises clients on various FCC reporting and compliance requirements.
Ms. Crowe has extensive experience related to FCC spectrum auctions, compliance with the FCC’s anti-collusion rule, auction procedures, and the complex designated entity (DE) rules, including formation of DE structures and secondary market transactions involving spectrum subject to the DE rules. She has been actively involved in wireless spectrum auctions since 1995, and has assisted numerous entities in qualifying to bid, qualifying for DE benefits or investing in entities that qualify for DE benefits, and successfully securing licenses post-auction.
Representative Matters
- Represented several small businesses in successfully qualifying for designated entity benefits, or investors in entities qualifying for DE benefits, in multiple FCC spectrum auctions.
- Designed compliance programs for multiple FCC auction participants regarding the FCC’s anti-collusion rule, the rules related to DEs, the licensing rules governing multiple wireless services, and the rules regarding infrastructure deployment.
- Represented Dobson in connection with its acquisition by AT&T.
- Advised Intel in connection with its $1 Billion investment in Clearwire.
- Acted as outside general counsel for entrepreneur through start-up, construction and operational phases.
- Represented winner of spectrum in FCC Auction 35 in connection with negotiation of settlement agreement between Federal government, certain Auction 35 winners and NextWave.
- Served as special FCC Counsel to wireless company in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding; negotiated settlement agreement with FCC and Department of Justice relating to outstanding debt on FCC licenses; advised in connection with several 363 sales under auspices of bankruptcy court, including negotiation of stalking horse and other sale agreements.
- Successfully defended challenge to nationwide exclusivity of large paging carrier on certain private carrier paging channels.
- Represented underwriters on FCC regulatory matters in connection with several multi-billion public offerings
