AT&T's army of lobbyists well positioned on Hill

AT&T remained confident Tuesday that it will win over regulatorsto approve its $39 billion bid to buy T-Mobile USA, even as criticscontinued to bash the deal as anti-competitive and bad forconsumers.

Bolstering its chances, AT&T has one of the most muscularlobbying operations in Washington. Last year, it enlisted an army ofabout 90 lobbyists and has had on its roster well-known formerlawmakers, including Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.) ofthe Senate and J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) of the House of Representatives,according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

It is also one of the biggest campaign contributors among anycorporation in history and has spent $15 million annually onlobbying efforts since 2005, according to the nonprofit group. TheRepublican chairmen of three key House committees - Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) - togetherhave received more than $200,000 over their political careers fromAT&T's political action committee, the center's data show. They didnot immediately return phone calls for comment.

Experts and consumer advocates say the merger, which would createa wireless behemoth by combining the nation's second- and fourth-largest cellular carriers, raises serious issues for federalantitrust regulators. But they also note that AT&T is especiallywell-positioned to make its case.

Critics point to a key detail in AT&T's proposed transaction as asign of the company's confidence that it will ultimately win overregulators: AT&T must hand over $3 billion to T-Mobile, plus somevaluable wireless spectrum, if the deal gets nixed.

"Why are they so confident?" asked Craig Aaron, the managingdirector of Free Press, a Washington-based nonprofit group thatexamines media and Internet policy. "I have to believe that theymust have made the rounds in Washington to find out. . . . You'dhave to think that they have this confidence because of all thatlobbying clout that they bring to bear."

Congress does not have direct oversight over the deal; AT&T needsapproval from the Federal Communications Commission and the JusticeDepartment.

Michael Balmoris, an AT&T spokesman, said the company did notshop the idea of the merger with regulators before announcing thedeal. In a presentation to investors this week, Wayne Watts, AT&T'ssenior executive vice president and general counsel, said thecompany "fully understands and respects" the regulatory process.

In the presentation and on a Web site promoting its cause, AT&Targued that the merger will bring wireless access to 95 percent ofthe U.S. population and reach far-flung locales - fulfilling a keygoal of President Obama. AT&T also contended that previous wirelesscompany mergers have resulted in lower prices for consumers.

Critics of the deal doubt prices will come down in this case. Andthey worry about what AT&T will do with its influence in Washington.

Aaron said the firm's lobbying clout is partly due to James W.Cicconi, a company senior executive vice president. Last year, GQmagazine ranked Cicconi as No. 4 on its list of top "influencers" inWashington, right behind Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor andpossible GOP presidential candidate.

Cicconi was instrumental, Aaron said, in brokering a deal thatpaved the way for the FCC to pass rules governing whether providersof wireless Internet connections can control Web content.

"He's shown himself to be a savvy strategist," Aaron said. "Backin 2008, President Obama said he wasn't going to take a back seat toanyone in net neutrality. Of course, the following year, FCC backedaway and changed its position, and that was largely due to lobbyingby AT&T with direct pressure at the FCC."

Art Brodsky, a spokesman for Public Knowledge, a nonprofit public-interest group, said many critics of the deal are also wary ofWilliam Daley, the White House chief of staff. In the early 2000s,Daley was president of SBC Communications, which later merged withAT&T, and then worked for JPMorgan, which is helping finance theAT&T/T-Mobile merger.

"A bunch of us are saying there's no way he should touch this,"Brodsky said. "The FCC chairman has been known to consult withpeople at the White House all the time, and JPMorgan is in line formillions of dollars in fees out of this deal."

The White House did not return a phone call or -mail requestingcomment about Daley's potential involvement.

AT&T's financial contributions tend to benefit Republicans morethan Democrats, according to the nonprofit watchdog: During the 2010election cycle, 55 percent of the company's $4 million to federal-level politicians aided Republicans and 44 percent helped Democrats.

"AT&T is one of the biggest fish on the block," said DaveLevinthal, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics. "Theyare massive. They employ a number of lobbyists and former members ofthe government. There are very few companies that have multipleformer Congress members working for them. They are in a rareposition even for big companies when it comes to the strength oftheir lobbying force."