Anna has over twenty years’ experience in the communications sector. Her experience spans a wide and diverse range of matters including heavily-negotiated high-value sales transactions, large-scale procurement projects, product development and regulatory work. Anna is often retained on projects involving international network development and roll-outs, including submarine, terrestrial and mobile. She also routinely advises network operators on network sales (capacity/fibre) and on interconnect/peering/correspondent arrangements and advises service providers on value-added, messaging and location-based services.
Anna’s clients are spread across Europe, Asia and Africa and include submarine cable owner/operators, a north African incumbent, large national and international network operators, a 4G mobile operator, a pan-African capacity wholesaler, superfast broadband providers and advanced service providers. She also acts as advisor to one of the largest next generation submarine cable networks.
Prior to joining Keystone Law, Anna spent four years as Senior Commercial Counsel with WorldCom (Verizon) with responsibility for supporting the roll-out of the company’s international network and all network-related sales transactions, she acted as in-house lawyer to submarine cable system Gemini (a WorldCom/C&W joint venture) and held Head of Legal positions at Abovenet and ISP, Easynet.
Expertise
- Network roll-outs from inception and MoU stage through construction to product development and post-RFS sales (capacity, dark fibre, colocation, IPVPN).
- Commercial contracts, including procurement, sales and distribution and outsourcing
- Media content and e-commerce
- Regulatory law
Experience
Africa
- Advised a pan-African operator on the roll-out of national networks, including negotiating agreements for fibre, colocation and maintenance services and negotiating back-to-back arrangements with anchor-tenant customers.
- Advised on construction and maintenance agreements (C&MAs) and marine supply contracts for pan-African and Africa-Asia cable systems. Negotiating final terms with C&MA parties and with the marine suppliers.
- Advised a pan-African capacity wholesaler on sales transactions and negotiating complex capacity draw-down arrangements with carrier customers.
Commercial Contracts & E-Commerce
- Advised various clients in the e-commerce sector; drafting website terms of use and consumer terms, advising on distance selling and consumer protection legislation and other implications of selling online.
- Advised clients on the launch of new geolocation and SMS-based services, identifying and resolving data protection and regulatory issues and drafting customer terms.
- Advised a global telecoms operator on the launch of an online sales system for its virtual data centre product including the sale of third party apps, negotiating appropriate agreements with service providers and advising on web terms and on merchant agreements.
- Drafted standard customer terms for a wide range of products including collocation and VDC, VoIP, IPTV and MPLS. Advising on resale arrangements (dealer/distribution models).
- Negotiated and advised on joint venture arrangements for the establishment of a new world-class middle-eastern data centre.
- Advised a foreign former incumbent on all aspects of its international relationships including correspondent agreements and joint ventures for network development and further assisting in its procurement of soft-switches and internet gateways, product development and disputes with other operators.
Network Roll-Outs
- Advised a 4G licence-holder and various other clients on the roll-out of their international long distance networks, including negotiating high value agreements for the acquisition of fibre and capacity.
- Provided commercial and regulatory advice to a UK-based broadband operator including discussions with Ofcom and preparing responses to Ofcom consultations, obtaining the grant of Code powers, drafting standard term agreements and negotiating wayleaves.
- Advised a data-centre operator on the acquisition of dark fibre to support its UK business and on its relationships with customers.
- Advised an overseas operator on various matters relating to its role as a submarine cable landing party, on backhaul construction and on capacity sales arrangements with other carriers.
- Advised on consortium and private submarine cable projects including negotiations on joint build/construction and maintenance agreements and marine supply contracts, marine route surveys, front/backhaul facilities and arrangements with cable maintenance authorities.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Career
Anna qualified as a solicitor in 1996. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2008, she worked at the following firms:
- AboveNet Communications
- Coudert Brothers
- Olswang