Peter Alexiadis is a partner in the Brussels office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He has practiced Community law in Brussels since 1989, where his practice is split between competition law, communications policy, and intellectual property law. He is the holder of postgraduate legal qualifications from the Universities of London, Sydney and Thessaloniki.

Competition Practice

Peter’s competition practice focuses on merger control and joint ventures ; actions under Article 102 TFEU, extensive advisory work on the EU’s Broadband Guidelines, vertical distribution and licensing practices and the implementation of antitrust compliance programmes for firms across a wide range of industries. He has particular expertise in the application of competition policy to regulated network industries and infrastructures, especially in relation to electronic communications networks and digital platforms.

Peter has been lead Competition counsel before the European Commission in a number of the world’s largest announced technology/telecommunications-related mergers, including Vodafone/Airtouch, WorldCom/Sprint and Verizon/MCI, and has also been EU counsel in mergers involving Carlyle/Commscope, Epson/Sanyo, Seagate/Maxtor, Vivendi/Activision, Dolby/Doremi,MCI/Sprint, Energizer/Spectrum Brands, Schlumberger/Cameron, Schlumberger/Cameron, Schlumber/Weatherford, Schlumberger/Smith, Dresser/Cooper Corporation, Watson Wyatt/Towers Perrin, ABB Brown/Power One, Rusal/Glencore, Helvetia/Gan Eurocourtageand Allianz/Groupamawhile also serving as the Greek government’s external legal advisor in its review of the Cosmote/Germanos merger. He was also the successful briefing solicitor in the successful MCI vs. EC Commission appeal.

His intellectual property practice consists primarily in advising clients on the interface between intellectual property rights protection and competition law, especially as regards to innovative products and services. He was one of a handful of European legal experts to be invited by the United States’ DoJ and FTC in May 2002 to give testimony on Hearings on ‘The Antitrust and Intellectual Property Interface’ in Washington DC.

Communications Practice

Peter’s experience spans all aspects of regulation, policy and competition law affecting the communications sector, for both private companies and government institutions in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. His work for the sector is divided between advice for, and the defence of, private companies and counselling to government institutions. His expert opinions have often been cited in important regulatory decisions and court proceedings in many jurisdictions around the world, and he has addressed various international institutions and national parliaments on communications policy.  In this regard, he has undertaken major telecommunications reform project work in countries such as Hungary, Greece and Cyprus, and has undertaken important regulatory advisory work inter alia for the National Regulatory Authorities of Cyprus, Portugal, Greece, Bahrain and Egypt. He also has extensive experience in the review of State aids schemes affecting the electronic communications sector in the European Union.

Peter has particular expertise in market definition and market power assessment under the EU Regulatory Framework for electronic communications networks and services, with extensive experience in advising both operators and regulators on market definition and market power issues under the Regulatory Framework established under that legislation (having conducted such analyses across EU jurisdictions such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Cyprus and also in Jordan). He has worked extensively in regulatory policy matters across many jurisdictions, including: Ireland, Hungary, Greece, Romania, Portugal, Cyprus, Jordan, South Africa, Egypt, Bahrain, Thailand and San Marino. He acted as external counsel to DG Competition’s Communications Unit  in the period 1999-2002 and  has been the project leader in a number of landmark regulatory, competition and policy studies for the European Commission, including:

• “Market Definitions for Regulatory Obligations in Communications Markets” (2002);
• “Consumer Demand for Telecommunications Services and the Implications of the Convergence of Fixed and Mobile Networks for the Regulatory Framework for a Liberalised EU Market”(2000); and
• “Adapting the EU Telecommunications Regulatory Framework to the Developing Multimedia Environment” (1997).

He has also been project leader for three European Commission studies in 2007-2008, entitled:

• “Impact of Institutional Issues in the Review of the EU Framework for Electronic Communications”;
• “The Consistent Application of Regulatory Measures in the Area of Electronic Communications and its Impact in the Internal Market”; and
• “The Future of Next Generation Access – an Analysis of Potential Remedies”.

Most recently, he has been lead counsel in advising the Commission on revisions to the key legal investments:

• the revisions to the SMP Guidelines (2018)
• the revision of the Relevant Markets Recommendation (Ongoing – 2020)
• the revision of the Broadband State Aid Guidelines (Ongoing – 2020)

In recognition of his standing in the sector, Peter was appointed in 2007 as one of three Trustees of the International Institute for Communications. Peter was also one of two international experts appointed by the Belgian Minister for Communications to select the President and the Board of the BIPT, Belgium’s regulator in the communications sector. He also serves as an external advisor to the OECD on the development of public policy in relation to digital platforms.

Personal

Admitted to the Irish and Brussels’ E-list Bars, Mr. Alexiadis is also a member of the Law Society of England and Wales, the New South Wales Bar and a member of the International Bar Association. He graduated with a LL.M (Merit) from the University of London (LSE) in 1988 and a LL.M (Hons) from the University of Sydney in 1987. He received a Certificate in Public International Law (cum laude) from the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki in 1983. He also received a B.A. from the University of Sydney in 1982.

Mr. Alexiadis is a Visiting Professor at King’s College, London, where he teaches the LLM course on ‘Competition Law and Regulated Network Industries’. Prior to his posting at King’s College, he was a Visiting Professor over the period 2003-2010 at Strathclyde University in the MBA Communications Policy course. Peter was also a Visiting Professor at the Annual ULB Brussels EU Summer School Seminar for over 15 years, lecturing on Intellectual Property. He is also the Deputy Editor of the Editorial Board of the International Bar Association’s law journal, and a prolific academic writer.

He speaks English, Greek and French.

Peer Review

Mr. Alexiadis is widely acknowledged in the professional press as a leader in his field in both competition law and communications law, having been included among The American Lawyer’s ‘Star Laterals of the Year’ for 2003 when he joined Gibson Dunn, and having been named as one of the leading communications and competition law practitioners in Belgium and the European Union by peer group publications such as Chambers,Global Counsel,Legal Experts EMEA, Best Lawyers and International Who’s Who for decades. Chambers Europe writes: “Market opinion universally names him as one of the most important TMT practitioners in Belgium, with his telecoms work highlighted as being of a particularly high calibre”, while Chambers Global notes that “he has a deep knowledge of competition law at an international level, not just a European one. He is also very pragmatic and always provides a visible solution as well as a theoretical one.” EMEA Legal 500 states that he has an “in-depth understanding of the EU institutions.”

Mr. Alexiadis has been described as one of the leading three attorneys in the world in the communications sector by Euromoney’s ‘Best of the Best’ publication, and is listed among the top 10 ‘most highly regarded’ regulatory communications lawyers worldwide in The International Who’s Who of Regulatory Communications Lawyers 2013, which describes him as a ‘leading notary’ in the communications area, and as an “exceptional practitioner” who is an “expert in EU communications policy” (2012 edition). He was also named Best Lawyers ‘Lawyer of the Year’ in the area of Media Law 2014-5, and ranked as a leading EU Competition lawyer by IFLR1000 2021.  Most recently, he has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal ‘Thought Leaders Global Elite’ 2019 and named Best Lawyers’ 2019 Brussels Telecommunications Law ‘Lawyer of the Year’, as well as being included in the 2019 Best Lawyers in Belgium listing for Competition/Antitrust Law, European Union Law, Media Law, Technology Law and Telecommunications Law.

Publications

Mr Alexiadis regularly writes on issues of competition law and practice and communications policy, and is the EC Affairs editor of the Utilities Law Review.

The following are some of the more recent articles authored by Mr. Alexiadis:

• Co-author of “Designing an EU intervention standard for digital platforms” – European University Institute, Working Paper, EUI RSCAS, 2020/14, Florence School of Regulation – February 2020.
• Co-author of “Dutch tribunal deal blow to collective dominance findings in electronic communications markets” – Utilities Law Review, Vol. 22 Issue 6 – May 2020.
• Co-author of “State Aids in football : fall-out from the General Courts Judgements in the Valencia and Elche Appeals” – Antitrust Chronicle – May 2020.
• Author of Chapter 20, “Broadband: A Case Study of State Aid to Infrastructure Projects” – EU State Aids by T. Ottervanger, P. Slot & L. Hancher, 5^th edition (2016) – Being updated for the 2020 edition.
• Author of “Cartels in the utilities sector: An overview of EU and national case law” – eCompetitions Bulletin – 2020 (also 2016 and 2012 versions)
• Co-author of Sustainability Priorities and Competition Law Policies – A Meeting of Minds – Our World magazine – February 2020.
• Author of Regulatory Directions – InterMedia, Vol 47, No 1 – April 2019.
• Co-author A New Direction for EU Telecoms Policy? – Our World – January 2019.
• Co-author of Competing Architectures for Regulatory and Competition Law Governance – Florence School of Regulation – 2019.
• Co-author of “Merger Control: ‘Around the World in 80 Days: Management of the Merger Review Process of Global Deals” – IBA’s Business Law Journal, Vol 19 No 3 – September 2018.
• Author of Forging a European Competition Policy Response to Online Platforms – Business Law International, Vol 18, No 2 – May 2017.
• Author of “EU Net Neutrality Policy and the Mobile Sector: the Need for Competition Law Standards” – Chillin’ Competition publication (September 2016, Concurrences Review Nº 3-2016, Art. N° 80707). The article was shortlisted by the magazine E-Concurrences for its academic article of the year (antitrust) awards in Washington D.C for 2017.
• Co-authored (with Anthony Shortall) “The Advent of 5G: Should Technological Evolution Lead To Regulatory Evolution?” – Antitrust Chronicle – November 2016.
• Co-author of “Skating on Thin Ice”, EUtopia Law, November 2016 .
• Co-author of “Raising the EU Evidentiary Bar for ‘Single and Continuous Infringement’ Doctrine”, Concurrences Review No4-2016, Art. No 81844, November 2016.
• Author of “Merger Control in Regulated Sectors: A Bridge Too Far?”, Liber Amicorum Ian S. Forrester QC LL.D (pending).
• Author of “Europe in the Round” – IIC Newsletter – Part 1, September 2015 ; part 2, May 2016)
• Author of “Europe in the Round”, InterMEDIA, September 2015, Vol. 43, Issue 3.
• Author of “Policy Options for a Revised EU Access & Interconnection Regime”, Digiworld Economic Journal, no. 98, p. 85, 2nd Q. 2015.
• Co-author of “Commission discretion unchained” published in Competition Law Insight, March 2015.
• Co-author of “Structural Remedies under European Union Antitrust Rules”, in e-Competitions Bulletin, No 2-2013, p.21.
• Co-author of the CERRE study on ‘Regulatory stability and the challenges of re-regulating’, published by the Centre on Regulation in Europe (‘CERRE’), February 2013.
• Author of ‘Balancing the Application of Ex Post and Ex Ante Disciplines under Community Law in Electronic Communications Markets: Square Pegs in Round Holes?’ in Rights and Remedies in a Liberalised and Competitive Internal Market (edited by Eugène Buttigieg, Jean Monnet Professor, University of Malta), March 2012.
• Co-author of ‘Free Market 1: Copyright 0 – UK Premier League Loses Away from Home’ in Volume 18, Issue 6 of the Utilities Law Review, 2012.
• Co-author of “Enforcement Of EU Communications Regulation At The Crossroads: Satisfying The Doctrine Of ‘Taking The Utmost Account’ Through The Use Of The Concept Of ‘Ignoring In Its Entirety’” in Volume 18, Issue 5 of the Utilities Law Review,
• Co-author of “The European NGA Recommendation: The Banal, the Controversial and the Inconclusive” in Intermedia by IIC,
• Author of “Next Generation Access: Italy Experiments with a Joint Investment Model” in Utilities Law Review, Volume 18 Issue 1, 2010.
• Co-Author of “Regulation and Competition Law in Telecommunications and Other Network Industries” Chapter in The Oxford Handbook on Regulation, 2010.