Telecommunications & Regulatory.

Regulatory compliance and reporting

We assist providers with:

• regulatory reporting obligations and compliance calendars;
• ACMA, Ofcom and IMDA reporting and correspondence;
• implementation of new and amended industry codes and standards;
• consumer protection obligations;
• complaints monitoring and systemic-issue analysis;
• entity and service information reporting;
• internal compliance policies and procedures;
• regulatory risk assessments; and
• executive and board reporting.

We can also help businesses map their annual and recurring obligations, identify internal owners and prepare supporting documentation.

Complaints, investigations and incidents

Complaints, investigations and service incidents require prompt analysis, internal coordination and a carefully managed response. We assist with:

• complaints reporting, TIO responses and representation, and trend analysis;
• identification, escalation and remediation of systemic issues;
• outage registers and regulatory notifications;
• customer and stakeholder communications;
• urgent regulatory and enforcement response;
• investigation of potential non-compliance;
• preparation of responses to ACMA, ACCC, Ofcom and IMDA enquiries, investigations and enforcement action;
• TIO complaint responses and escalations;
• remediation planning; and
• advice following suspected or confirmed breaches.

Early legal input can help you establish the facts, preserve evidence, manage communications and respond consistently to a regulator, external dispute body or court process.

Codes, standards and regulatory change

Telecommunications regulation keeps changing across consumer protection, scam prevention, service reliability, cyber security and emerging technology. We assist businesses to:

• assess whether a new requirement applies to them;
• identify affected services and business units
•  translate regulatory requirements into practical, operational steps;
• allocate responsibility for implementation;
• update policies, processes and contracts;
•  prepare staff guidance and training material;
• test implementation before a deadline; and
•  undertake post-implementation reviews.

This support can be provided for a single regulatory change or as part of an ongoing compliance program.

Customer, supplier and technology contracts

Telecommunications contracts frequently allocate operational, regulatory and financial risk across several parties. We review and advise on:

• customer and enterprise service agreements;
• supplier and technology contracts;
• network access and service arrangements;
• communications agreements;
• cloud and managed service contracts;
• reseller and distribution arrangements;
• service levels and performance obligations;
• liability and indemnity provisions;
• data, cyber security and compliance clauses;
• termination and suspension rights; and
• cross-border contracting models.

We focus on whether the contract reflects the service being delivered, the regulatory obligations that apply and the provider’s operational capacity.

AI policies and technology governance

The use of artificial intelligence can create legal, regulatory and operational risks for telecommunications and technology businesses.

We assist with

• AI use policies;
• internal governance frameworks;
• approval and oversight processes;
• risk classification;
• staff responsibilities;
• vendor and procurement considerations;
• acceptable use requirements;
• record-keeping; and
• management of emerging regulatory change.

The scope of the work can be tailored to the size of the organisation and the way AI is being used.

Support when internal capacity is limited

Many smaller providers do not require a full-time in-house lawyer or regulatory adviser. They may still need experienced support during reporting periods, regulatory change, contract negotiations or urgent incidents. We can assist where a business:

• has no internal legal team;
• has a small compliance or regulatory function, coming up to a busy period with multiple regulatory deadlines;
• needs short term support while they recruit for a telecommunications regulatory role;
• is implementing a new code or standard;
• has received an ACMA, ACCC or TIO enquiry or escalation;
• is entering a major contract for communications services; or
• faces potential enforcement action or litigation; or
• needs an independent review of its current position and level of exposure to regulatory risk.

Engagements can be structured as a defined review, a short-term project, rapid response support or agreed monthly access.