Verizon, AT&T, and the other cellphone service providers have a new top lobbyist.

Meredith Attwell Baker, a former member of the Federal Communications Commission, will be the new CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association, the group announced Wednesday.

Baker, a Republican, was a target of fierce criticism from consumer groups when she stepped down from the FCC in 2011 to become a lobbyist for Comcast. Although top government officials often join the influence industry, Baker's move was considered particularly ostentatious because she joined Comcast just four months after voting to approve the cable giant's purchase of NBC-Universal.

Comcast is now ramping up its lobbying force to get permission to buy Time Warner Cable. Losing Baker will be a blow, but the company still has an impressive roster of lobbyists, including former Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Don Nickles and former Reps. Robert Walker and Ron Klink.