Henry Shi advises clients on regulatory and commercial matters in the communications and information technology industries and on telecom regulatory issues in connection with corporate transactions.

Communications and Technology Industries Transactions

Henry has extensive experience advising strategic and financial investors on federal, state, and local telecommunications regulatory and consent issues in connection with public and private mergers and acquisitions, complex debt and equity financing, and restructuring. Recent transactions include:

• $8 billion acquisition of a cable and internet access service provider;
• $1 billion cross-border acquisition of a national telecommunications carrier;
• Acquisition of innovative satellite services company for a defense industry client; and
• Multiple pending acquisitions of major regional consumer and enterprise fiber providers.

He also has wide-ranging experience in structuring and negotiating commercial agreements in the communications industry. Examples include:

• Public-public partnerships and joint ventures for fiber network buildouts in multiple states;
• Long-term, first-of-its kind whole network fiber leases between municipal utilities and competitive Internet service providers;
• Wireless deployment concession contract for a major U.S. metropolitan airport authority; and
• Terrestrial and sublease dark fiber indefeasible rights of use agreements.

He also has structured and negotiated other types of joint ventures, public private partnerships, and commercial agreements specific to the communications industry, including for mobile virtual network operators, terrestrial and subsea fiber optic cable systems, distributed antennae and small cell wireless agreements, data center collocation agreements, utility pole and wireless tower leases, municipal franchises, and wireline intercarrier agreements.

Regulatory Advisory and Advocacy

Telecommunications
Henry represents clients on a variety of regulatory issues relating to and before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and state Public Utilities Commissions, including, foreign- and cross-ownership issues, authorization and license transfer approvals, rulemaking proceedings, investigations, and enforcement actions. He has represented and advised technology companies, cloud computing companies, competitive wireline and mobile wireless carriers, and trade associations in FCC proceedings relating to net neutrality, business data services, federal universal service programs, and infrastructure deployment.

Emerging Technologies
Henry advises clients on communications regulatory issues implicating emerging technologies and industries, including regulations on Internet-of-Things for companies focusing on enterprise communications solutions, consumer devices, and hardware. Recent advisory clients include a major cloud computing and data security provider on federal IoT and wireless communications regulations, and a multinational passenger vehicle manufacturer on federal and state privacy and consumer protection regulations for connected vehicles.

Infrastructure Deployment and Funding
Henry advises communications infrastructure owners and Internet services providers on navigating federal, state, and local regulatory barriers to deploying network facilities, as well as on understanding and taking advantage of funding opportunities provided through federal programs under the FCC’s Universal Service Fund and the federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program.

Before joining HWG, Henry served as Deputy Associate Counsel for Presidential Personnel at the White House, and prior to that he was a Senior Counsel in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he worked on congressional oversight and on housing finance matters. He previously worked at a New York-based international law firm, focusing on internal investigations for major multinational corporations and on civil litigation.

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