Larry Movshin has shaped and served the wireless industry for over 40 years. He was deeply involved in the licensing phase of the first cellular markets, and has continued to be a major force in the wireless world in the decades since.
In the early 1980s, the FCC established two cellular licenses in each market, and was struggling with how to process the unexpected number of applications for the new A-band licenses. The telephone company affiliated applicants for the B-band licenses had different rules leading to simpler settlements, and thus a head start in launching service. Faced with years of delay, legal battles, and ultimately the threat of lotteries, the A-band applicants came together to pound out a solution. Larry was in the thick of the negotiations. He worked closely with clients and their competitors to negotiate and implement the initial Top 30 market settlements, and then in developing and implementing the global settlement process that resolved A-band ownership of Markets 31-90.
Over the years, he has counseled clients in numerous M&A, business and financing transactions, and on a wide range of regulatory issues and proceedings. His clients have included wireless carriers like Graphic Scanning, Detroit Cellular, Dobson Cellular, PrimeCo, Arch Paging, MCG PCS, US West, United Wireless Communications, Sprint PCS, Nextel, and Verizon Wireless. He has also represented the private wireless interests of clients including Amtrak, the American Hospital Association, Syniverse Technologies and L&G Smartmeters.
Larry has a broad range of experience in spectrum leasing and other transactions in the secondary market, and has been recognized as an expert on the regulatory requirements and restrictions associated with the FCC’s spectrum auction procedures. He has written numerous articles, and is a frequent speaker at trade seminars and bar associations on transactional issues involving spectrum acquisitions and system sales.
As partner in the law firm Wilkinson Barker Knauer, Larry received many accolades and awards from the legal community. He has been recognized by his peers through top ratings in Best Lawyers in America and Washington DC Super Lawyer. He has held many leadership positions in the Federal Communications Bar Association, as well as the FCBA’s charitable and educational foundation. Since 2018, Larry has served on the Board of Directors for the Wireless History Foundation. He was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame at the awards dinner in Las Vegas in 2015.