David CANTOR

  • david.cantor@rosenblattandco.com

David Cantor is a leading communications lawyer based in Brussels. He is Special International Counsel to our Firm. David counsels and represents major international players in the telecommunications and neighboring fields, on matters ranging from pioneering regulatory and antitrust cases to substantial M&A and national privatization transactions.

Over the past two decades, David has worked in most European countries and throughout much of the European periphery, on a wide variety of important assignments. His practice has, in addition, extended to a range of matters arising in distant venues in Asia, the Americas and elsewhere. He is often engaged by leading industry players as a high-level strategic adviser.

David has frequently advised and represented national and international market leaders — such as France Telecom/Orange, Telecom Italia, KPN, Portugal Telecom, Turk Telekom, Oger Telecom, OTE, Cesky Telecom, Matav and Verizon (including its predecessors Bell Atlantic, GTE and MCI), among many others — on numerous regulatory and competition law matters before the EU and at European national level, and in transactional assignments throughout the European region.

He has been enlisted regularly by European operators, both dominant “incumbents” as well as new entrants into deregulated European markets, to manage complex regulatory proceedings and litigation. David has handled many high-stakes telecommunications antitrust cases, including landmark merger clearances and contests, before the EU and before national competition authorities across the European region and elsewhere; as well as groundbreaking negotiations of telecommunications licenses in national proceedings, on behalf of both wireless and fixed telecommunications operators in many European countries — both EU and non-EU.

David’s practice has focused equally on drafting and negotiating cross-border telecommunications transactions, notably strategic telecommunications privatizations in the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe. For example, he led the buy-side legal teams on behalf of KPN and OTE in Bulgaria (BTC), and on behalf of Telecom Italia/STET in Romania (Romtelekom); and the sell-side legal team on the strategic privatization of Telekom Serbia. He also advised Telecom Italia in relation to the strategic privatization of Turk Telekom; and Turk Telekom and Oger Telecom on a recent bid for BTC.

Prior to joining forces with Rosenblatt & Company, David developed a largely independent practice featuring collaboration with various top international and national law firms. Previously, from 1995 through 2002, he led the international telecommunications practice group of Weil, Gotshal & Manges from Brussels. Before that he developed the Brussels telecoms practice group of Stanbrook and Hooper, where he frequently advised the European Commission on its progressive liberalization of European “electronic communications” markets.

David’s professional standing is widely recognized among industry leaders, regulators and the international financial community. He has at various turns been designated “top of the league” among communications law practitioners both in Europe and worldwide — by, among others, Chambers & Partners’ “World’s Leading Lawyers”, Euromoney’s “The Best of the Best”, Law Business Research “International Who’s Who of Telecommunications Lawyers” and European Counsel’s “Industry Report – Telecommunications”.

With long and wide-ranging experience in related sectors including high technology as well as the film and television industries, since the outset David’s career has straddled convergence in the technology, media and telecommunications (“TMT”) fields.

Office

Almaty, Istanbul, Cairo, Ulaanbator,

Practice Area

Region

Emerging Europe, Middle East, Central Asia

Education

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law Institute on International & Comparative Law, University of San Diego School of Law, Paris American Film Institute, Center for Advanced Film Studies, Beverly Hills Brandeis University Wesleyan University

Languages

English (native) French (fluent) Russian (conversational)

Membership

American Bar Association Member of the Bar of New York Member of the Bar of New Jersey