Who says you can’t buy influence? Or at least attempt to.
During the first six months of this year, the communications-electronics sector spent big money attempting to curry favor from elected officials on topics ranging from trade disputes to the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction.
According to the Center for Public Integrity, the 700 MHz proceeding has been the top ticket for lobbyists in 2007.
During the first six months of the year, Cyren Call Communications Corp. spent $400,000; Frontline Wireless Corp. spent $80,000; and Google Inc. spent $320,000 on government lobbying efforts.
And what occupied lobbyists of national wireless carriers, startups Cyren Call and Frontline, Web search-engine juggernaut Google and others since January? Why, the Federal Communications Commission’s 700 MHz rulemaking, of course.
“This issue has dominated the FCC’s agenda throughout 2007, as lobbyists swarmed the agency in hopes of influencing an upcoming auction of airwaves that are ideal for high-speed wireless Internet service,” wrote the group’s Brendan McGarry. “In fact, in the first seven months of the year, lobbyists representing nearly 100 companies, trade associations, and other parties (think tanks and public-interest groups, for example) had nearly 600 meetings or phone conversations with agency officials on proceedings related to the January 2008 auction-far more than any other pending matter.”
When the various entities weren’t meeting with FCC officials, they were on Capitol Hill making courtesy calls to congressional members and their staffs.
Qualcomm qualms
Qualcomm Inc., attempting to have an import ban ruling overturned, continues to be one of the wireless industry’s biggest spenders when it comes to trying to change hearts and minds in official Washington.
Federal lobbying disclosure records show the San Diego-based CDMA giant funding lobbying activities to the tune of $2.86 million for the first half of this year. Top on the agenda for Qualcomm’s in-house and outside lobbyists was Broadcom Corp.’s patent infringement complaint before the International Trade Commission. The ITC ruled in early June that Qualcomm violated Broadcom patents, ordering a partial import ban on new handsets with the former’s WCDMA or CDMA2000 1x EV-DO chipsets. The Bush administration last month refused to veto the ITC decision.
Because the Broadcom-Qualcomm patent dispute mushroomed into a high-stakes, high-profile political matter, it was necessary for Qualcomm lobbyists to do more than try to score points with ITC officials. Qualcomm’s hired guns needed to educate House and Senate lawmakers as well as Bush administration officials about why it believed the
matter warranted a repeal of the initial ruling.
Qualcomm’s nearly $3 million of lobbying during the six months leading up the ITC ruling rivals the $3.83 million it spent on lobbying in all of 2006. While the ongoing patent infringement controversy remains center stage for Qualcomm in Washington, the company’s lobbyists have had to focus on other issues ranging from mobile video, trade, E-911 and patent reform to homeland security, immigration reform and health technology.
Mo money
Motorola Inc. spent even more on lobbyists than did Qualcomm, $3.42 million in the first half of 2007. In contrast, Alcatel-Lucent’s and Nokia Corp.’s six-month lobbying expenditures came in lower at $440,000 and $110,000 respectively.
On the carrier side, the industry’s No. 2 operator Verizon Wireless spent $2.04 million on lobbyists; No. 3 Sprint Nextel Corp. $1.56 million; No. 4 T-Mobile USA Inc. $912,250; and regional power Alltel Corp. $70,000 for the first six months of 2007. The latest lobbying figures for AT&T Inc., parent of the largest U.S. cellular carrier, were not found on the Senate online lobbying disclosure Web site. AT&T did not respond to e-mails requesting a copy of its latest lobbying expenditure filing. The Center for Responsive Politics said AT&T spent more than $23 million on lobbyists last year.
The Center for Responsive Politics added that the communications-electronics sector spent $2.09 billion on lobbying between 1998 and first-half 2007.
