Mark C. Del Bianco
A lawyer with a fascination for communications technology and network economics. A pioneer in the field of drone law.My first job out of law school was at the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice, where I worked on a number of cases involving the communications industry, including the breakup of the original AT&T Corp. After leaving the DOJ, I spent a decade doing mostly international trade law. When the U.S. communications landscape was transformed by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, I was at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in D.C., and I jumped at the opportunity to move back into the communications arena. I spent six years in Skadden’s communications group, representing large communications firms and investment groups, including Ameritech, Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), Comsat and Bain Capital.
I opened my own practice in 2003 and for more than a decade have worked largely with new telecom competitors and internet companies. I have been fortunate to be able to combine a contracts/transactional practice, which requires knowledge of the nitty gritty of the technology and the clients’ businesses, with the “big picture” overview that comes from my regulatory policy practice and my law school teaching.
I firmly believe that widely available high speed broadband has the potential to fundamentally change the U.S., and the world. But widespread high speed broadband deployment won’t happen in the current regulatory and business environment. That is why I teach, write and advocate on policy issues at the intersection of networks, innovation and antitrust. I’m also involved in implementing gigabit networks through my work with GIG.U. These are long term projects that, if successful, will result in a competitive telecom landscape that presents expanded business opportunities for many new competitors, including my clients.
To blow off steam, I play a lot of basketball and try to spend as much time as possible outdoors (often with my wife Mary). My favorite activities are kayaking, skiing, crabbing, fishing, hiking the C&O Canal towpath or the Appalachian Trail, or just reading mysteries in a hammock.