Telecommunications affect our daily lives. The increasing convergence of technologies and applications will cause this influence to grow further in the future. Telecommunications are developing not only in the area of communication between persons, but also between devices themselves such as payment by mobile phone, smart energy meters and navigation.

These developments mean that there will be an ever greater need for the scarce resources that telecommunications use. Unbridled access to these resources encourages the development of new opportunities, but at the same time forms a threat to existing market parties and business models.

Besides infrastructure aspects such as the operation, access and neutrality of networks, telecommunications law is also closely bound up with the contents and form of the services provided over the networks. Control and the efficient management and operation of networks on the one hand are at odds with the right to privacy and network neutrality on the other hand. As part of the international CMS organization, CMS Derks Star Busmann has a separate practice group for telecommunications.

The Telecommunications practice group at CMS consists of a large number of specialist lawyers working from 56 offices in 28 countries, including Central and Eastern Europe. In a sector characterized by fast technological developments and the associated European and national market regulation, in-depth knowledge of the sector is indispensable. Thanks to its geographical distribution, the CMS Telecommunications Group is able to use the knowledge and experience it has acquired elsewhere in Europe at a national and international level. In the Netherlands the telecommunications practice group comprises four specialist lawyers, who advise market parties in court proceedings and assist them in a range of areas, including:

• Access and interconnection to network and media platforms
• Pricing regulation
• Market analysis decisions/market regulation
• Privacy laws and consumer protection
• Building and environmental permits for installing UMTS antennas and masts