Paul B. Hudson

Paul Hudson advises cable operators and competitive telecommunications carriers of all sizes on contract, regulatory, tax, and risk management issues for video, telephone, broadband, interconnection, and wholesale services. Paul appears regularly before the Federal Communications Commission, state public service commissions, and the Universal Service Administrative Company.

Representative Experience

Interconnection Agreements and Telecommunications Services Contracts

• Negotiates and arbitrates wholesale and retail telecommunications contracts and interconnection agreements.
• Negotiates contract dispute settlements and releases, and has won multimillion-dollar judgments before state public service commissions and in American Arbitration Association proceedings.

Grant Writing and Management

• Authored three successful Recovery Act broadband stimulus award applications and the largest successful application to receive funding in the FCC’s broadband Lifeline pilot program.
• Manages program compliance for recipients of federal Rural Utility Service and broadband stimulus grants and loans from the federal government.

Set-top Box Regulations

• Representing the cable industry in negotiations between the cable industry and the consumer electronics and IT industries related to the development of retail set-top boxes and in related proceedings before the FCC.
• Obtained waivers for 10 cable operators from the FCC’s ban on the deployment of integrated set-top boxes, including the first all-digital waiver, the first financial hardship waiver, the first HD/DVR waiver, the first downloadable security waiver, and the first refurbished device waiver granted by the FCC.
• Representing the cable industry in the development and implementation of a landmark energy conservation voluntary agreement for set-top boxes, and before the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency in related proceedings regarding the energy efficiency of set-top boxes, modems, and network equipment.

Universal Service and Telecommunications Taxes

• Advises on federal and state universal service fund and other tax and fee programs, including their potential application to emerging IP and other new services, initial launches of voice and transport services by cable operators, wholesale exemption forms, Form 499 and traffic study filings, reporting strategies for companies that previously have not filed or have underreported, USAC audits, and universal service reform proposals.

E-Rate

• Advises service providers and school districts in compliance with the federal Schools and Libraries “e-rate” program, including drafting contracts and managing responses to USAC questions and audits.
• Prosecuted successful appeals of e-rate funding denials in cases before USAC and the FCC, including on issues of valid contracts, competitive bidding, cost-effectiveness, and eligibility of services.

Customer Proprietary Network Information

• Developed policies and employee training materials for Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) rules for more than 40 service providers.