{{insights.date}}
{{insights.type}}
{{insights.contentTypeTag}}
Eduardo R. Guzmán
Partner
Eduardo Guzmán represents telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) companies on regulatory and dispute resolution matters in the US and Latin America. He regularly advises carriers and providers on the implications of regulatory policy involving telecommunications and emerging technologies, and defends them in litigation and other proceedings involving those issues. He also counsels clients across diverse industries on compliance with state and federal laws regulating marketing and consumer communications.
Eduardo regularly helps telecommunications providers navigate and adapt to a changing regulatory landscape. He advises providers on matters such as traditional common carrier regulation, the regulation of video, VoIP and other IP-based services, the transition to IP-networks, interconnection, the regulation of broadband internet service, universal service and consumer privacy. He negotiates complex agreements related to the interconnection of networks and the offering of regulated and non-regulated services.
Eduardo also dedicates a significant part of his practice to representing TMT companies in administrative proceedings, litigation matters and arbitration proceedings. He has particular experience litigating intricate jurisdictional and regulatory policy issues and handling commercial disputes in domestic and international arbitration proceedings before the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
In addition, Eduardo has extensive experience helping companies across a range of industries develop internal programs and policies for compliance with federal and state laws regulating telemarketing and other communications with customers, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Telemarketing Sales Rules (TSR), the CAN-SPAM Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). He also regularly conducts compliance audits, reviews internal policies and practices, and makes practical recommendations to clients aimed at reducing exposure and potential liability under these statutes and regulations.
Eduardo has particular experience in the Caribbean and Latin America. He regularly represents the interests of private corporations and industry groups in matters before administrative agencies and other government entities in Puerto Rico, and advises on legal, business, regulatory and political issues in connection with their plans to establish new operations in Puerto Rico and/or their existing operations in Puerto Rico. With the recent changes in US policy toward Cuba, Eduardo has counseled US companies considering entering the Cuban market, and he has published articles and is frequently invited to speak on the Cuban telecommunications sector, the history of foreign investment in that sector, and the risks and opportunities for US investors looking at Cuba.
- Acting as lead counsel on behalf of an incumbent carrier in appeal of an interconnection arbitration decision. Obtained dismissal of competitive carrier’s appeal and partial remand of the incumbent carrier’s claims.
- Advising national retailers, telecommunications providers, insurance companies, financial institutions and media companies on developing internal policies and best practices for compliance with the TCPA, the TSR, the CAN-SPAM Act and the FDCPA.
- Serving as primary outside regulatory counsel in interconnection negotiations with international wholesale carrier.
- Acting as lead trial counsel on behalf of incumbent local exchange carrier in the first interconnection arbitration proceeding before the Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Puerto Rico involving an incumbent cable television service provider
- Acting as lead trial counsel in administrative proceedings before the Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Puerto Rico that led to concession of first franchise for the offering of IP-based video service in Puerto Rico.
- Acting as lead counsel in defense of a complaint filed by incumbent cable television companies challenging concession of the first IPTV franchise in Puerto Rico. Obtained dismissal on jurisdictional and abstention grounds.
- Acting as lead counsel on behalf of an incumbent carrier in appeal of an interconnection arbitration decision. Obtained dismissal of competitive carrier’s appeal and partial remand of the incumbent carrier’s claims.
- Acting as lead trial counsel for Puerto Rico telecommunications carrier in commercial arbitration proceedings before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.
- Serving as one of four attorneys who represented the Republic of El Salvador in an international arbitration proceeding before ICSID filed by a Spanish company. Obtained a dismissal of this case on jurisdictional grounds based because the investment had been procured through fraud.
Education
- University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 2002
- Georgetown University, B.S.F.S., 1999
Admissions
- New York, 2003
- Puerto Rico, 2003
Courts
- District of Columbia, 2004
- Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2023 for Communications Law.
- Recognized in 2016 as a Law360 Rising Star in Telecommunications.
- Recognized as a Foreign Expert for Litigation in Puerto Rico by Chambers Global in 2014.
- “Connected Cuba is a Pipedream for US Telecoms,” Bloomberg BNA, July 13, 2016.
- TV Martí, San Juan, P.R., November 6, 2015.
- “Counterintuitive’ FCC Ruling Poses Risk for Contact Centers,” Nearshore America, July 21, 2015.
- “Declaratory Ruling on TCPA Leaves Key Issues Unclear, Open to Challenges,” Outbound Dial Resource, July 15, 2015.
- Author, “Compelling and Staying Arbitration in Puerto Rico,” Practical Law, November, 2017
- Author, “Strategic Perspectives - Eleventh Circuit offers clarification of partial revocation of consent under TCPA,” Wolters Kluwer, September 29, 2017
- Author, “Strategic Perspectives — Victory for the TCPA defense bar limits right to revoke consent,” Wolters Kluwer, July 21, 2017
- Author, “US-Cuba Telecommunications: Turning the Corner,” The National Review, March 16, 2016.
- Author, “Duties of Telecommunications Carriers,” Telecommunications Law Answer Book 2016, ed., Practicing Law Institute, 2015.
- Author, “Telecommunications in Cuba and the U.S. Embargo: History, Opportunities, and Challenges,” World Communications Regulation Report 10, no. 5, Bloomberg BNA, May 2015.
- Co-author, “TCPA and VoIP: Revisiting the 4th Circ.’s Ruling in Monarch,” Law360, February 29, 2016.
- Co-author, “What You Need to Know About the FCC’s July 10th Declaratory Ruling on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA),” The National Law Review, July 13, 2015.
- Presenter, “Spotlight on Providing Telecommunications Services in Cuba,” American Conference Institute’s FCC Boot Camp, San Francisco, CA, June 28, 2016.
- Panelist, “Cuba Case Study: Policy and Business Implications for U.S. Industry,” PCIA’s Wireless Infrastructure Show 2016, Dallas, TX, May 25, 2016.
- Panelist, “Telecommunications Developments,” Cuba Investment Forum 2016, Industry Exchange, Fort Lauderdale, FL, May 12, 2016.
- Panelist, “What to Expect from the D.C. Circuit Appeal of the Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 TCPA Ruling,” InsideARM Larger Market Participant Summit, Washington DC, April 22, 2016.
- Panelist, “The Opening of U.S. Relations with Cuba and Its Impact on the Telecommunications Market,” Federal Communications Bar Association, Washington DC, April 7, 2016
- Panelist, “Connecting Islands: Ensuring Access to Mobile Broadband in the Caribbean Telecommunications Market,” Capacity Caribbean 2016, San Juan, P.R., February 17, 2016.
- Presenter, “What You Need to Know About the Telephone Consumer Protection Act: Compliance and Regulatory Developments Since 2015,” Microjuris, January 5, 2016 (Spanish).
- Presenter and panelist, “Telecommunications in Cuba and the U.S. Embargo,” Cuba: Investment, Trade, and Financial Guarantees (hosted by Microjuris and the Inter-American Federation of Lawyers), San Juan, P.R., November 5, 2015.
- Panelist, “Business Opportunities in Cuba,” Junta Ampliada del Consejo Empresarial de América Latina, San Juan, P.R., August14, 2015.
- Witness, “Overview of Cuban Imports of Goods and Services and Effects of U.S. Restrictions,” United States International Trade Commission, June 2, 2015.