The Legal 500

Co-headed by José Tomás Errázuriz and José Ignacio Ovalle, the team at Barros & Errázuriz has an excellent reputation for its expertise in TMT litigation and regulatory work. It represented Claro Chile in various proceedings before the Competition Tribunal, including cases against mobile company Will Telefonía and the National Economic Prosecutor's Office. Other highlights included advising American mobile infrastructure developer and operator, Torrecom Partners, on the setting up of its operations in Chile; and advising Hewlett-Packard on regulatory issues in connection with technological services provided both in Chile and abroad.

Alfonso Silva's team at Carey is praised for its ‘excellent industry knowledge'. It covers the full range of TMT, and recent mandates include advising Motorola Solutions on the government's project to create a national emergency communication network and on the multimillion-dollar sale of its network and infrastructure operations to Nokia Siemens. The team also advised Nextel Chile on the country's new antenna regulations (approved by Congress in January 2012), while the firm's regulatory matters director Eduardo Martin acted for the company on the deployment of its 3G network in Chile.

The key figures in Baker & McKenzie's practice are team leader León Larrain and corporate partner Diego Ferrada. It handles regulatory matters for a long list of high-profile clients such as Toshiba, Oracle, Sharp, Nokia, Research in Motion and PayPal. Recent instructions have included advising on data protection regulations, the newly approved law on telephone number portability, and telecom legislation applicable to the launch of new online businesses in the country.

Bofill Mir & Alvarez Jana Abogados has a strong profile in the regulated sector in general, and can field considerable expertise in the telecoms sector. Name partner Octavio Bofill has a track record of involvement in the industry as part of his wider corporate practice, and is particularly knowledgeable on issues such as market access. On the regulatory side, the practice can call on associate Guillermo de la Jara, who spent four year at Telecommunications sub-Secretariat (Subtel).

Cariola Diez Perez-Cotapos y Cia's ‘exceptional' practice is led by the ‘intelligent, politically astute and business-savvy' Francisco Javier Illanes, who is described by one satisfied client as the ‘finest lawyer in the region'. The team advised Turner Broadcasting on the new legal framework applicable to digital television in Chile, as well as on regulations in connection with programming and advertising. It also assisted Chilevisión with television broadcasting licences. Other key clients include Global Crossing, Prisa Group, Avail-TVN and Fox International Channels.

Carla Bordoli heads the regulated markets area at Ferrada Nehme, which advises clients on regulatory and litigation matters in relation to a wide range of sectors including the internet; public, cable and digital television; and mixed and mobile telephony. She is able to draw on her four-year experience working at Telefónica CTC as well as on the strength of the firm's antitrust and competition team.

Boutique firm García Magliona y Cía Abogados' TMT practice is particularly strong on the new media side, where it combines its IP and IT expertise with regulatory and telecom industry knowledge to provide clients with comprehensive advice and representation. The team covers software licensing, technology and electronic contracts, advertising and production agreements as well as regulatory matters. Founding partner Claudio Magliona's command of technological matters attracts leading companies in the media and telecoms sector, including Google, Mapcity.com and Kingston. The group also teams up with the firm's corporate department to assist on the technology aspects of merger and acquisition transactions; a representative highlight saw the team advise on the sale of Deremate.com to MercadoLibre.com.

Telecom specialist Juan Enrique Allard heads the highly specialised practice at Guerrero, Olivos, Novoa y Errazuriz, which covers concessions, negotiations, litigation and the representation of clients before the telecommunications authority. The team is representing TuVes against Television Nacional de Chile in an unprecedented case in which the claimant challenges the right of satellite and cable service providers to freely transmit public digital TV channels. It also advised Tekelec on number portability and network neutrality matters. In 2011, managing partner Roberto Guerrero V was appointed to the board of the National Television Council, the body responsible for supervising Chilean TV's regulatory compliance. Other clients include Bloomberg, Yahoo! and Western Union International.

Álvaro Bofill heads the TMT practice at Grasty Quintana Majlis & Cia., advising clients such as Ericsson Chile, Sony Ericsson and Oracle Chile, which are attracted by the comprehensiveness of the firm's services and the team's expertise on regulatory matters. Founding partner Michael Grasty recently advised the Chilean Association of Information and Technology Companies on its service contracts and other agreements with US and Latin American service providers. Bofill has a particular focus on Chile's emerging digital technologies market and is a member of ItechLaw. He is also a member of the telecom committee of the Fundación País Digital, (of which Grasty is a director), an organisation dedicated to promoting technological development in Chile.

The team at Estudio Jurídico Otero benefits from an excellent reputation in IT, technology and data protection. Senior partner Miguel Otero and Macarena López are both being praised for their expertise in telecom sector legal issues. Custos Mobile, Microsoft and Marketing de Servicios Consultores are representative clients.

Mario Gorziglia and Alberto González are the key contacts at Prieto y Cia. The team assisted Telcordia Technologies with a tender aimed at the implementation of the number portability system in Chile. It also advised space systems and services provider Astrium on the amendment of a sales contract for a satellite for the Chilean air force; and acted for Universidad Tecnológica de Chile (INACAP), on the execution and amendment of all its technological contracts with different providers and suppliers.