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The telecommunications and media practice of Yangming Partners is perhaps the most active of all major law firms in Taiwan. The practice is headed by Robert Lee who draws on the support of the other practice areas of the firm, including the areas of mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and litigation as the need for expertise in these respective areas arises for telecommunications and media clients. The Firm has developed a solid reputation in a number of areas of telecommunications and media law including the following:

  • Regulatory- Taiwan opened its telecommunications market to non-state-owned operators in 1996; it was only beginning in 1996 that a system of transparent telecommunications laws and regulations began to take shape. As a result of the relatively immature state of Taiwan telecommunications regulation, the Firm is in frequent contact with the regulatory authority to assist clients in clarifying regulations. Further, in many cases we have been involved in pioneering new areas of regulations on behalf of clients who seek to enter areas of Taiwan's telecommunications market which have yet to be regulated.
  • Licensing- As is the case in most telecommunications markets, many areas of telecommunications operation in Taiwan, including mobile and fixed line operations, are subject to strict licensing requirements. There are also in many cases complicated post-licensing reporting requirements. As the regulatory environment matures, there have been additional burdens placed on many operators which were not anticipated at the time of licensing.
  • Joint Ventures- Only Taiwan-incorporated entities are entitled to operate facilities-based telecommunications businesses in Taiwan and there are foreign investment restrictions applicable to such entities. As a result, structuring of joint ventures to protect the interests of the foreign investor or to maximize the ability of the foreign investor to exercise control over the entity are areas on which our team has focused in recent cases.
  • Contracts- Yangming Partners' telecom team has been involved in a wide variety of contract drafting and review, including contracts pertaining to network construction and maintenance, technical assistance, distribution, roaming and interconnection.
The following is a sample of some of the largest telecommunications and information technology matters in which we have recently been involved:
  • Representation of one of the first foreign investors in a Taiwan mobile telecommunications operator in Taiwan;
  • Representation of a number of global telecommunications capacity providers in connection with telecommunications infrastructure and capacity sales structures in Taiwan;
  • Ongoing representation of several of the world's largest fixed line and mobile telecommunications operators in respect of Taiwan's telecommunications regulatory environment;
  • Representation of the two largest foreign investors in Taiwan's cable television industry;
  • Representation of one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications operators in connection with plans to obtain a controlling stake in a Taiwan operator;
  • Representation of the largest Asia-region media company in connection with copyright infringement in Taiwan;
  • Representation of a number of the world's largest television and motion picture entertainment companies in corporate and intellectual property matters;
  • Representation of several of the world's largest telecommunications companies in connection with investment in Taiwan mobile and fixed network telecommunications systems;
  • Representation of several of the world's largest integrated circuit design and manufacturing corporations in connection with corporate and intellectual property matters in the Asia-Pacific region;
  • Representation of a Taiwan earth station operator in connection with leasing of capacity from a major foreign satellite transponder leasing concern;
  • Representation of a satellite communication company in connection with a buy-out of its major competitor;
  • Representation of a global media fund in connection with its buy-out of one of Taiwan's major cable television multiple systems operators (MSO);
  • Representation of one of Taiwan's major cable television multiple systems operators (MSO) in connection with its billion USD refinancing.
    
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