James (Jim) Baller was a Telecommunications Partner at Keller and Heckman who retired at the end of 2024 as Senior Counsel. He advised clients throughout the United States (U.S.) on a broad range of communications matters, including high-capacity broadband network projects, public-private broadband partnerships, regulatory compliance, wireless facility siting, right-of-way management, pole and conduit attachments, and barriers to community broadband initiatives. According to the Fiber to the Home Council (now the Fiber Broadband Association), he was “widely recognized as the nation's most experienced and knowledgeable attorney on public broadband matters.”

Jim assisted with numerous matters involving complex factual, legal, and policy issues. He collaborated with legal, financial, accounting, engineering, and other technical experts to assist state, regional, and local government entities in making comprehensive telecommunications plans, establishing state-of-the-art communications systems, developing strategic partnerships, and integrating right-of-way and zoning ordinances, franchises, licenses, pole-attachment agreements, contracts, forms, permits, and other related documents.  

Jim was the founder and president of the U.S. Broadband Coalition, which helped foster a national consensus on the need for a national broadband strategy and recommended the framework that was subsequently reflected in the Federal Communication Commission’s National Broadband Plan. He was also the co-founder and president of the Coalition for Local Internet Choice, and frequently spoke at telecommunications conferences and authored numerous articles on such matters.

Throughout his distinguished career, Jim received many awards and accolades for his policy and site-specific work on federal, state, and local broadband matters, including the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2024) and the Fiber Broadband Association’s Star Award (2024).

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