Numerous members of Congress have cashed checks from AT&T. | AP Photos AT&T influence extends far in D.C.

AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile may or may not be a boon for shareholders and wireless users, but two groups are almost sure to win big: lawmakers and the lobbyists paid to influence them.

Even in “normal” years, AT&T outspends most of its competitors to win over Congress and federal regulators — stepping up its game in election years with the use of a PAC that outspent all but three others in any industry in the 2010 cycle.


Now, with the $39 billion T-Mobile deal on the table, telecom insiders and campaign-finance experts are braced for AT&T to pull out all the stops.

“They’re a behemoth. They’re one of the most powerful political entities in the United States, hands down, and it’s not just in one realm,” said Dave Levinthal, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics. “What that says is that if they find themselves before the federal government — if they have a major issue such as getting approval for a merger like this — they have incredible resources to bring to bear.”

AT&T’s PAC spent $3.2 million in 2009 and 2010 strategically targeting influential new members, returning lawmakers and congressional leaders on panels of jurisdiction from both parties.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), telecom panel chief Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and all but two of the members on Walden’s committee cashed checks from AT&T this past cycle. Only Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) did not, although both did receive AT&T contributions in previous elections.

So too did half of the Senate’s top antitrust panel collect AT&T cash last cycle – although not Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), who called for a hearing on AT&T and wireless competition on Sunday.

And every member of the Senate Commerce Committee — including Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and freshmen GOP Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, John Boozman of Arkansas, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire — has in his or her career collected AT&T campaign cash.

Money doesn’t guarantee a free pass; Rockefeller is also among the Democrats who have called for a hearing on the T-Mobile deal. But it can buy access.

“Their own in-house guys and their external guys together can reach any office they need,” said a telecom lobbyist who previously represented AT&T. “The relationships are already there; the friendships are already there.”

AT&T may need all the help it can get as the federal review of its bid for T-Mobile gets underway. In the months ahead, the merger will undergo intense scrutiny from both the FCC and Department of Justice, which must determine if the acquisition — which would make AT&T the largest wireless provider in the country — benefits the public and doesn’t threaten competition.

Both AT&T and T-Mobile signaled in a joint statement Sunday that the federal review could wrap up favorably in about 12 months, but the battle could easily turn vicious. If it does, AT&T is sure to tap its vast Washington resources as it seeks to make its case over the long haul.

AT&T spent more than $15 million in 2010 to talk up members and regulators on top telecom issues, according to CRP. That’s slightly lower than the more than $16 million spent last year by Verizon, but it far surpasses the expenditures of the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier, Sprint, which spent $1.7 million in Washington in the previous four quarters.

AT&T employed about 90 lobbyists, both in-house and through outside hires last year. Some of those lobbyists are former members of Congress and top Hill aides, according to the center.

Leading the public policy team in AT&T’s high-powered D.C. shop is Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs, who once assisted former President Ronald Reagan and chief of staff James Baker III. Tim McKone is another AT&T player known in part for his work raising considerable cash for Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid.

Former members of Congress, such as onetime Senate GOP leader Trent Lott, rounded out a lengthy list of outside lobbyists AT&T hired in 2010, according to federal disclosures.

That roster has ebbed and flowed over the years as AT&T’s top issues vacillate in importance on Capitol Hill. That’s what has some industry leaders fearful: The company is able to engage directly in protracted political battles, at lengths that other D.C. players might find unsustainable.

“The mindset of these companies is not in hours or days; it’s in years,” said Art Brodsky, spokesman for Public Knowledge, which opposes the new T-Mobile acquisition.

AT&T also has powerful personal connections with leading federal officials on both sides of the political aisle — including Bill Daley, President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff. Daley took over as No. 2 at SBC in 2001 and left in 2004 to join JPMorgan Chase before SBC announced its plans to merge with AT&T.

AT&T will also have the help of the T-Mobile team — which is poised, like the company itself, to remain independent as federal regulators review the deal. It's a much smaller office, operating a PAC that pales in comparison to AT&T's effort, but is still a source of support in the upcoming Beltway battle.

Opponents, too, are sure to mobilize. What they may have on their side isn’t necessarily money, but rather a growing federal concern over wireless competition — which could provide an outlet for companies like Sprint to demand conditions to the acquisition that benefit them too.

As the AT&T/T-Mobile saga unfolds, the FCC is still battling back against the GOP’s political upheaval against rules that would require Internet providers to treat all traffic equally. Yet the agency has already added a net neutrality component to the recently finished Comcast-NBC merger — and some are urging the agency to wade into those waters again with AT&T.

The FCC is also mulling rules that would allow customers to roam on a competitor’s network — a change that even T-Mobile, prior to AT&T’s bid, actively sought before the FCC.

AT&T said Monday that it is “confident” it can secure federal approval as it presents its case for T-Mobile, and both companies signaled Monday that they hoped to wrap everything up in about a year. AT&T declined to comment on its lobbying and PAC efforts and whether those efforts would be stepped up as it pushes for merger approval.