Mr. Heitmann has more than fifteen years of experience representing carriers, broadband, Internet and information service providers, Voice over IP (VoIP) providers and other enterprises on regulatory policy, litigation, dispute resolution and enforcement matters before federal and state regulatory agencies, and in state, federal and appellate court litigation. He also counsels extensively on compliance policies and issues arising from the Communications Act, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act, and numerous other federal and state laws governing privacy, information security and telecommunications law issues.
In the broadband and telecommunications arena, Mr. Heitmann has extensive experience in all types of competitive carrier issues such as interconnection, intercarrier compensation, collocation and unbundling. He has extensive experience in regulatory litigation matters and has led numerous carrier coalitions in pursuing public policy decisions favorable to competitive providers' business plans on a wide array of issues including privacy/customer proprietary network information (CPNI) regulation, the federal universal service fund (USF) and merger reviews. He also has negotiated and/or arbitrated interconnection and traffic exchange agreements on behalf of more than a dozen competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and multi system operators (MSOs) with dozens of incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) and wireless carriers.
In the privacy and information security arena, Mr. Heitmann advises clients on creating public-facing and internal policies and taking actions necessary to achieve compliance with myriad federal and state laws, including the Federal Communications Commission's privacy rules (CPNI), the FTC Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and numerous state data protection and data breach laws and regulations.
Mr. Heitmann also advises clients in transactional matters involving the sale and procurement of telecommunications, broadband capacity, collocation and fiber facilities, and on regulatory issues arising in the context of mergers and acquisitions, product development and strategic planning.
Through the International Association of Privacy Professionals, Mr. Heitmann is a Certified International Privacy Professional (CIPP). He also is co-chair of the Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Privacy and Data Security Committee and has served as co-chair of the FCBA's State and Local Practice Committee. Mr. Heitmann was selected as a 2011 Client Service All-Star by BTI Consulting. In 2011, US Legal 500 recommended Mr. Heitmann for his work in the Telecommunications-Regulatory and Technology, Data Protection and Privacy areas.
Representative Experience
Representing clients in the negotiation and arbitration of interconnection agreements with incumbent landline providers, including rural providers.Counseling with respect to interconnection and other intercarrier agreement implementation and dispute resolution, including representation in FCC and state enforcement actions.
Defending clients in FCC and other regulatory agency enforcement actions and investigations.
Counseling voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology users on regulatory compliance, business strategy and products design.
Representing clients on a wide range of financing, merger and asset transfer transactions, including negotiating intercarrier service arrangements as well as filing applications and securing approvals from the Federal Communications Commission and state public utility commissions.
Representing wireless service providers, landline providers, industry associations and others in rulemaking and other proceedings before the FCC , FTC and state public utility commissions. Areas of expertise include data privacy and security, network neutrality, universal service, unbundled network elements (UNEs), special access, 271 elements, broadband, forbearance, intercarrier compensation, CPNI, mergers, resale and copper loop retirement.
Representing clients in complex interconnection agreement-based litigation and appeals before U.S. Courts of Appeal, federal district courts and multiple state commissions.
Counseling clients on compliance, business strategy, litigation risk, policy development, training and product development with respect to telecom-regulatory and contractual requirements involving a wide array of subject matters, including intercarrier compensation (reciprocal compensation and access charges), UNEs/EELs, collocation, interconnection, building access, provisioning/OSS, privacy/CPNI, universal service/USF, net neutrality, CALEA, pole attachments, truth-in-billing, win-back/retention marketing, slamming, numbering/number portability, 911/E911, regulatory fees, reporting requirements and compliance with law enforcement requests.
Negotiating and drafting telecommunications-related contracts for clients, including mutual traffic exchange agreements with wireless providers, commercial agreements, pole attachment agreements, indefeasible rights of use (IRUs) and backhaul/facility/capacity agreements.
Representing clients in state commission certification and eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC).
Advising clients with respect to and drafting carrier policy statements on Red Flag Rule, acceptable use and network management.
Memberships & Associations
American Bar Association, Antitrust Section
Federal Communications Bar Association, Co-Chair Privacy and Data Security Committee
Federal Communications Bar Association, Former Co-Chair State and Local Practice Committee
International Association of Privacy Professionals, Certified Information Privacy Professional
Professional Activities
TelecomHUB, Board of DirectorsHonors & Awards
Recommended in US Legal 500 for his work in the Telecommunications - Regulatory and Technology - Data Protection and Privacy areas, 2011.
Selected as a 2011 Client Service All-Star by BTI Consulting.
