Rights of way and infrastructure law · Energy and telecommunications
We advise businesses on building and operating networks: on access to public ways and to existing infrastructure, on the contracts behind them and in the proceedings that follow. Lawyers of the German law firm cogito.legal in Hamburg, since 2017.
cogito.legal is a commercial law firm specialising in rights of way and infrastructure law, particularly in the energy and telecommunications sectors. We support your business, your legal department or your project with many years of experience. Our advisory range extends from managed legal services and legal outsourcing through to representation in complex proceedings.
At every level of advice, our lawyers and legal staff bring extensive experience, both as external counsel and in-house. It covers in particular the legal questions of network infrastructure in the energy and telecommunications industries, including procurement and competition law — from broadband roll-out to non-discriminatory access to existing networks.
Telecommunications lines in public ways are governed by the rights of way in sections 125 et seq. of the German Telecommunications Act (TKG). We handle the right of use, the consent of the body responsible for the way, and disputes over relocation or alteration of a line.
For energy lines, the way-use agreement with the municipality is decisive. We handle conclusion, renewal and expiry of these agreements — including the transfer of distribution assets where an agreement is not renewed.
When a concession agreement expires, the award procedure must be run on a non-discriminatory basis. We accompany it from the public notice to the award decision — and represent our clients when that decision is challenged.
Building electricity, gas and fibre networks means aligning permits, land rights and construction contracts. We accompany projects from route planning to commissioning.
Anyone wishing to run their own lines through third-party facilities needs access on reasonable terms. We enforce shared-use claims and defend against unfounded ones.
Network usage, metering and billing charges are the most frequent point of dispute between network operators and network users. We review them and pursue recovery — in cases numbering in the hundreds.
Networks are natural monopolies, which is why the prohibitions on abuse and discrimination apply directly. We bring and defend proceedings before the cartel divisions of the regional courts and the cartel senates of the higher regional courts.
Contracting entities in the energy and water sectors award contracts under their own rules. We advise on both sides of the procedure — as contracting entity and as bidder.
Alongside the network sits the business that runs on it. We advise on remuneration schemes, trading agreements and energy market regulation.
Where negotiation ends, we conduct the proceedings — before the civil and administrative courts, through all instances, up to landmark rulings of the German Federal Court of Justice.
Behind every mandate stands the firm's infrastructure team — lawyers and legal staff with many years of experience, both as external counsel and in-house. Your contact for rights of way and infrastructure law at cogito.legal is:
You are looked after throughout by the lawyers who know your network, your contracts and your proceedings. Changing responsibilities and repeated briefing do not arise.
The same lawyers who draft the way-use or permission agreement later conduct the dispute about it. What was negotiated does not have to be reconstructed once litigation begins.
Routes, ducts, metering equipment: we know the assets that are being argued about and have worked with our clients' technical departments for years. That shortens coordination considerably.
Like cases are run as a bundle — we have organised several hundred actions against network operators in this way, with a single line of argument and deadline management across the entire portfolio.
The municipality has to award the use of its ways afresh and without discrimination. For the previous holder, the question of network transfer under section 46 of the German Energy Industry Act arises at the same time: which assets must be handed over, and what counts as economically appropriate consideration. We handle both strands and represent our clients when the award decision is challenged.
Shared use is the exception to the principle that each operator builds its own network. It requires a legal basis and is subject to reasonable terms. We assess whether a claim exists, negotiate charges and access conditions and, where necessary, conduct proceedings before the Federal Network Agency or the courts.
That depends on volume and period, not on the individual invoice. We first review the whole portfolio — which charges were billed over which years and on what basis — and calculate the recovery before proceedings are issued. Where it is worth it, we run cases as a bundle: several hundred proceedings of this kind, up to the landmark rulings of the German Federal Court of Justice.
Tell us what it is about and when suits you. We will come back to you with a confirmation or an alternative proposal.
+49 40 232 053 000