Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A.

Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A. has extensive experience in the telecommunications industry from wireline to wireless, local exchange to interexchange, resale to facilities-based, incumbent local exchange carriers to pre-paid local service providers, and independent telephone companies to world class multi-service providers. Legal representation includes regulated and non-regulated aspects of the telecommunications industry.

Our Jackson office is located just over a block away from the Mississippi Public Service Commission, the primary regulatory body for telecommunications providers in Mississippi. Having represented hundreds of clients before the Commission, attorneys in the Telecommunications Practice Group have developed a good working relationship with the Commissioners, their Staff, and the separate Mississippi Public Utilities Staff. Many times this relationship permits our attorneys to discuss ways to resolve matters before they become contested issues.

Attorneys in the Telecommunications Practice Group have extensive experience in all types of representations before the Commission, including:

• Applications for Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity

• Sale and Transfer Applications

• Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Designations under federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (TA96)

• Universal Service Fund Plan Certifications under TA96

• Mergers and Acquisitions

• Tariff Filings

• Rate Cases

• Depreciation Rate Changes

• Earnings Reviews

• Defense of Show Cause and Cease and Desist Actions

• Formal and Informal Complaints (on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants)

• Arbitrations and Negotiations concerning Resale and Interconnection Agreements

In addition to appearances before the Mississippi Public Service Commission, attorneys in the Telecommunications Practice Group also have experience filing applications and/or general representation before the regulatory commissions in the states of Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma.

Our attorneys combine their experience in the telecommunications industry in their representation of other types of utilities, including water and sewer, natural gas, and electric power industries.