Craig A. Gilley
Partner
Craig provides counsel to regulated communications entities on matters that include:
- Handling of enforcement, rulemaking, adjudicatory, and transactional proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission, state public utility commissions, and federal and state courts;
- Negotiating video programming content agreements and broadcaster retransmission consent agreements;
- Responding to broadcaster carriage and channel placement complaints;
- Interactions with state and local governments, including local franchising, state authorizations, compliance audits, and enforcement proceedings;
- Negotiating and drafting utility pole attachments and right-of-way agreements;
- Negotiating fiber lease and IRU agreements;
- Negotiating and drafting complex technology, licensing, service, and partner agreements and other sophisticated contractual arrangements; and
- Advising on regulatory aspects of financings, and mergers and acquisitions
For technology firms and investors, he advises on:
- Negotiating and drafting complex information technology service, licensing, content, co-marketing, cloud services, and partnership agreements;
- Providing transactional and operations support;
- Managing IP and licensing portfolios; and
- Managing corporate compliance programs
Related Practices
Experience
Experience
Representative Matters
Transactions
- Represented Cable One in its $735 million acquisition of New Wave
- Represented Cable One in its $525 million acquisition of Fidelity Communications
- Represented CountryWide Broadband and equity sponsor Seaport Capital with respect to their acquisition of cable systems and fiber ring networks from iTV-3 in Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington, and Peoria, Illinois and Full Channel Communications cable systems in Rhode Island, including advising on corporate structure of, and investment in, the transaction, and negotiating the necessary approvals
- Represented Atlantic Tele-Networks in its sale of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, and voice services subsidiary to Oak Hill Partners
- Represented education technology provider Unizin in its successful spin off from Internet2 and follow on corporate reorganization
- Represented TPG Global in its $2.365 billion acquisition of Wave Broadband in 2018 to create the sixth largest cable operator in the country, changing the nature of the company from a small, relatively unknown competitor to one of the most powerful cable operators in the country
- Represented TPG Global in its acquisition from Oak Hill Capital Partners of two cable operators, RCN Telecom Services, LLC and Grande Communications Networks, LLC. Acted as regulatory counsel for TPG, advised on the pre-purchase due diligence, prepared and filed applications for regulatory approval of the transaction by the FCC and state and local governments, and shepherded those applications through the approval process until completion and closing
FCC Regulation
- Served as FCC regulatory counsel on cable-related matters to Cable One, one of the 10 largest cable operations in the country
- Served as FCC regulatory counsel on cable-related matters to Mediacom Communications Corporation, one of the 10 largest cable operations in the country
- Successfully represented the American Cable Association in an FCC rulemaking that resulted in the adoption of a modification of the standard for determination when a cable system is subject to "effective competition" and not subject to local rate regulation. The outcome of the proceeding resulted in the adoption of a standard that presumptively deregulates all cable operations
Insights
Insights
Credentials
Credentials
Education
- J.D. Georgetown University Law Center 1995
- B.A. History Brown University 1992
Professional Memberships and Activities
- Member, Federal Communications Bar Association
Recognition
Recognition
- Legal 500, Telecom and Broadcast: Regulatory, 2017 – 2018
- Multichannel News, Deal Makers: Counselors Who Seal the Deal in Cable, 2015
- The Best Lawyers in America, Communications Law, 2025