Prior to joining Keller and Heckman in 1986, Jack Richards served for 10 years as an attorney at the Federal Communications Commission, where he held senior policy and management positions; including Legal Assistant to Commissioner Mimi Dawson; Chief of the Enforcement Branch; and Chief of the Rules Branch, Land Mobile and Microwave Division of the Private Radio (now Wireless Telecommunications) Bureau.
Mr. Richards represents petroleum and natural gas companies, electric utilities, commercial wireless service providers, mobile radio and microwave operators, trade associations and others at the FCC and elsewhere on licensing, regulatory and telecommunications transactional matters.
He serves as counsel to the American Petroleum Institute on telecommunications matters before the FCC and as the General Counsel of ENTELEC, the Energy, Telecommunications and Electrical Association.
His clients also include the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, which he has represented before the FCC since 1986. In 1992, he assisted NRTC in negotiating an Agreement with DIRECTV for the distribution of DIRECTV Direct Broadcast Satellite service, leading to the nation's first successful launch of DBS service. In 2003, he represented NRTC in obtaining FCC approval for NRTC and others to invest in WildBlue Communications, which provides the country's first Ka-band broadband satellite service. He also assists NRTC in managing its 220 MHz wireless system and in other telecommunications projects.
Mr. Richards works with investor owned electric utilities and rural electric cooperatives on a variety of pole attachment matters, including drafting, reviewing and negotiating pole attachment and joint use agreements. In 2004, he served as Project Manager in preparing a Sample Pole Attachment Agreement for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association that was distributed to all of its rural electric utility members. Previously, he served as Project Manager in preparing a Telecommunications Source book for NRECA, entitled "The New Telecommunications Environment: Opportunities for Electric Cooperatives."