2020 survey of TMT sector investor-state arbitration

Technology, media, and telecommunications (“TMT”) as an overarching sector has experienced sustained growth and turmoil for a number of years characterised by cross-border collaboration, expansion, consolidation and, of course, innovation. The sector (and in particular the telecommunications sector) remains a focus for direct investment and capital demands for the underlying infrastructure such as full fibre networks, 5G networks, data centres, mobile towers and subsea cables – driven by the ever-increasing demand for data both at a consumer and enterprise level – remain high. Against this background, we continue to see investor-state disputes arise and develop into arbitrations. This article aims to consider any new trends in this area, and to offer some thoughts on the potential implications for investors and states.

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NAFTA Energy Arbitrations

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came to an end on 1 July 2020. After 24 years, it has been replaced by a new agreement called the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. The main impact as far as the energy sector is concerned was elimination of the famous Chapter 11 dispute resolution provision. Chapter 11 of NAFTA gave private investors the right to bring claims directly and unilaterally in the host country. This was unique at the time when the arbitration world was dominated by state-to-state proceeding.

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