Simmons & Simmons, US firm Swindler Berlin Shereff Friedman and Australian telecoms firm Gilbert + Tobin have won key roles as advisers to international bandwidth trading company

The firms won the work on a competitive tender which they found out the results of last week.
Bandwidth is the technology that determines the speed of an internet or telephone connection, and International Telecomm-unications Clearing Corpor-ation (ITCC) is one of a number of online exchanges that have been set up to trade bandwidth by matching buyers and sellers of the commodity and taking a percentage of the price paid. Corporations buy or sell bandwidth through ‘hubs’, which are set up by the exchanges.

“Enron’s share price doubled last year when it announced that it was going to trade in bandwidth. Simmons advised Enron, which helped it win the ITCC work”

Interestingly, the company that led the way in bandwidth trading was the now bankrupt energy trader Enron. Enron’s share price doubled at one point last year when the company announced that it was going to trade in bandwidth through a subsidiary entitled Enron Broadband Services. Simmons advised Enron on bandwidth trading, which helped it win the ITCC work.
ITCC aims to have bandwidth trading hubs in London, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and Miami. Simmons has been appointed to advise ITCC in London, while Swindlers and Gilberts will advise the company in their relevant jurisdictions.