William F. Maher advises clients on a wide range of telecommunications issues involving federal, state and international telecommunications regulation. He has broad experience with wireline and wireless communications technologies such as Internet-based voice and broadband services. Mr. Maher joined Morrison & Foerster in January 2005 after serving as Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2002 to 2004. Before his legal career, Mr. Maher was a communications engineer.

Mr. Maher’s practice focuses on representing competitive stakeholders, including Internet service providers and wireless companies, as well as large business users of telecommunications services. He also counsels clients on the telecommunications regulatory implications of transactional matters including mergers, acquisitions, stock spin-offs and new business ventures.

As head of the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, Mr. Maher supervised the development of U.S. policies regarding Internet services and oversaw FCC proceedings seeking to reform the U.S. intercarrier compensation system and universal service policies. He helped to advance policies regarding broadband deployment and competitive access to the networks of incumbent telecommunications carriers.

Mr. Maher is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2007 and 2008) as a leader in the field of communications law.