Overview
Since 1988, Walt Sapronov has been teaching telecommunications law at the Georgia Institute of Technology. That year, he joined the College of Computing’s faculty as an adjunct professor, and he has continued teaching there ever since. The combination of practicing attorney and academic is unusual. That Walt Sapronov has sustained both roles for more than 35 years in one of the most technically complex legal fields says something specific about where the firm he leads sits within the telecommunications law landscape.
Sapronov & Associates, P.C. operates from two offices: 5555 Glenridge Connector, Suite 200, in Atlanta, Georgia, and 1875 I Street, NW, Fifth Floor, in Washington, D.C. The D.C. presence positions the firm for regulatory work before the Federal Communications Commission and other federal bodies. The Atlanta office serves the firm’s regional client base. Together, they give the firm access to both federal regulatory agencies and the commercial market it serves. The firm’s website is wstelecomlaw.com/, and its phone number is (770) 399-9100.
The firm’s practice is exclusively focused on telecommunications law and closely related areas of information technology, broadband, wireless, and regulatory compliance. It does not practice in unrelated fields.
Practice Areas
Telecommunications Law: This is the firm’s core identity. The practice covers all facets of telecommunications and information technology transactions, from negotiating commercial agreements to advising on regulatory requirements. The firm represents enterprise clients, carriers, and service providers, including some of the largest in the United States.
Broadband and Wireless Transactions: The firm negotiates broadband deployment agreements and wireless spectrum transactions. These deals often involve significant capital, complex technical specifications, and regulatory dimensions that require both legal and technical understanding.
Regulatory Compliance: The firm represents clients before the FCC, state public utility commissions, and other state and local governmental authorities. Regulatory compliance in telecommunications is ongoing rather than episodic; carriers and service providers face a continuous set of obligations that change as the regulatory landscape evolves.
Telecom-Related Bankruptcy: When telecommunications carriers face financial distress, the legal issues that arise differ from those in other industries. The firm handles Chapter 11 reorganizations, work-outs, and regulatory compliance for control transfers, secured financing, and restructuring in the telecom sector. Walt Sapronov has published on this subject in Business Law Today, the American Bar Association publication.
Cross-Border Finance and International Transactions: The firm has experience with international telecom transactions involving assets across multiple jurisdictions. This includes cross-border financing structures and the regulatory requirements that apply to international arrangements.
Mergers and Acquisitions: The firm handles telecom sector M&A, vendor finance transactions, and secured lending. It has experience in the deal-making dimension of the industry alongside the regulatory dimension.
Arbitration: When telecommunications disputes cannot be resolved through negotiation, the firm provides representation in federal and state court proceedings and in arbitration. Walt Sapronov has presented on U.S. dispute resolution of international telecommunications contracts at the Center for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria.
Privacy: Regulatory and compliance work in privacy matters, which intersect increasingly with telecommunications operations.
Telecom Sourcing Agreements: The firm has negotiated hundreds of interconnection agreements and wireless infrastructure agreements. Some of the deals it has handled have had values exceeding half a billion dollars.
Attorney Profile
Walt Sapronov (Lead Partner)
Walt Sapronov holds an AV Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which represents the highest rating available under that peer review system. He is named in Georgia Super Lawyers. He has been included in every annual edition of the International Who’s Who Legal in the Telecommunications and Media category since 1996. He is also included in the International Who’s Who of Telecom Lawyers.
His professional leadership in the bar community includes serving as president of the Computer Law (now Technology Law) Section of the State Bar of Georgia and as president of the Atlanta Chapter of the Federal Communication Bar Association. He has served as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Science and Technology Section, Communications Division.
Sapronov’s academic role at Georgia Tech since 1988 is a sustained engagement with telecommunications law education, teaching in both the College of Computing and the university’s pre-law program. This dual role as practitioner and educator reflects the depth of engagement with the field that distinguishes his position in the Georgia telecommunications law community.
The firm has received Corporate International Magazine’s Global Award for Communications Law Firm of the Year in Georgia.
Location and Service Area
The firm’s Atlanta office is located at 5555 Glenridge Connector, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30342, accessible by phone at (770) 399-9100. The Washington, D.C. office is located at 1875 I Street, NW, Fifth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20006.
The dual-office structure reflects the nature of telecommunications practice: much of the regulatory work occurs at the federal level in Washington, while commercial transactions are often structured with counsel in the markets where the carrier or enterprise client operates.
Client Focus
The firm’s clients are enterprises, carriers, and service providers operating in telecommunications, broadband, wireless, satellite, and information technology sectors. The client base includes some of the largest carriers in the United States. The firm also serves U.S. clients with international operations and international clients with U.S. regulatory exposure.
The firm’s telecom-only focus means that clients do not share attorney attention with matters outside this field. Every engagement the firm takes on falls within the same concentrated area of practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the firm handle regulatory matters at both the federal and state levels?
Yes. The firm represents clients before the FCC at the federal level and before state public utility commissions. State-level telecom regulation varies considerably across jurisdictions, and the firm’s experience covers this variation alongside federal regulatory compliance.
What is the significance of the AV Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell?
Martindale-Hubbell’s AV rating represents the highest level of rating available under its peer review system, which evaluates both legal ability and professional ethics based on reviews from other attorneys and judges. The AV rating reflects peer recognition of the highest quality of legal work and professional conduct.
How does the firm’s Georgia Tech teaching role connect to its legal practice?
Walt Sapronov has taught telecommunications law at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing since 1988. Teaching telecommunications law to students in a computing and engineering environment requires translating regulatory and transactional frameworks into terms that are meaningful to technically trained audiences. This cross-disciplinary engagement informs how the firm communicates with technically sophisticated clients in the telecom and IT sectors.
What types of deals does the firm handle in telecommunications M&A?
The firm handles mergers and acquisitions within the telecom sector, including vendor finance transactions and secured lending. Given the regulatory dimensions of telecom ownership and control transfers, these transactions require legal support that integrates both transactional and regulatory expertise. The firm has negotiated sourcing and infrastructure agreements with individual deal values exceeding half a billion dollars.
Does the firm handle international telecom matters?
Yes. The firm has experience with cross-border telecom transactions and has presented on international dispute resolution at conferences in Europe. It represents clients whose operations or agreements span multiple jurisdictions.
Closing
Sapronov & Associates, P.C. has been practicing telecommunications law for more than 35 years, with an Atlanta office at 5555 Glenridge Connector, Suite 200, and a Washington, D.C. office at 1875 I Street, NW, Fifth Floor. The firm’s concentrated focus on telecommunications and information technology law, combined with Walt Sapronov’s sustained academic engagement at Georgia Tech and his recognition in international legal directories since 1996, positions it among the most established telecommunications law practices operating in Georgia. It can be reached at (770) 399-9100 or at wstelecomlaw.com/.