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 By
Ben Bronston,
Telecom Lawyer, 713-778-1000
I had the honor last month of being selected as
the telecom legal subject matter expert (SME)
for the
Channel Partners show in Washington D.C. I
moderated a roundtable discussion about telecom
contracts at the
Peer-to-Peer Networking Mixer. Most of the
participants wanted to discuss the typical
concerns (evergreen, termination,
non-solicitation, etc.). However, there were 3
other interesting issues which stick out in my
mind:
-
One participant was a master agent who warned
about the dangers of signing an agreement without the assistance of
an experienced
telecom
lawyer. He said his company had been burned by a CLEC who took
advantage of the one-sided language in their agreement.
He highly recommended using an experienced
telecom
lawyer in the contract negotiation process and called it "money
well spent". As you might expect, I completely agree with his
position!
-
An independent agent was concerned about the
possibility of being labeled an employee of a carrier he represented
for income tax/withholding and payroll tax purposes. He said the
state where he lives is cracking down on independent sales agents
from different industries - the state is claiming they are really
employees rather than independent contractors.
I don't think this is a very big issue in our industry, particularly
because most independent agents seem to represent more than one
carrier or master agent, but it's certainly something about which
independent agents should be careful.
-
A small agent who is new to the business
expressed frustration about the affordability of obtaining legal
assistance from an experienced
telecom
lawyer. He wondered if there was an association of small agents
who pooled their resources together to assist each other with
contracts.
I understand this agent's concern, but the good news is that I can
help any agent (large or small) in an affordable manner. In
addition, I can help small agents work with master agents who
may have more clout and financial resources to negotiate favorable
contract terms with carriers.
Need to keep current on legal issues affecting
telecom agents, channel partners and their carrier suppliers? Stay in
touch by
connecting with me on LinkedIn.
Also, my "Telecom
Lawyer LinkedIn Group" has over 125 members and is growing rapidly
as channel partners want to learn more about telecom agent agreements,
master agent agreements, carrier agreements and other telecom contracts
and issues".
If you have a telecom contract that you need an experienced telecom
lawyer to review or need help with any other telecom legal issue, call
Ben Bronston -
Telecom Lawyer
at 713-778-1000.
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Contact:
Ben Bronston
6300 West Loop South, Suite 395
Houston, TX 77401
713-778-1000 direct
713-885-6210 cell
713-583-9720 fax
email: click
here
www.TelecomLawyer.net
Newsletter Archive:
October 2010:
Top 3 Legal Concerns for Agents at Channel Partners Conference
September 2010:
The Telecom Lawyer You Can Afford |