NCTA, T-Mobile Spent Less on Lobbying in Q3
T-Mobile lobbying expenses plummeted in Q3 compared to what it spent last year. Its latest quarter expenses were $1.37 million, well down from the $1.91 million it spent in 2014’s Q3. The carrier, now No. 3 in the U.S. and often a big spender on lobbying, continues to deploy many firms and counts former lawmakers Henry Waxman and Billy Tauzin among its arsenal of lobbyists.
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Q3 lobbying disclosure reports were due Tuesday, and many were still being posted at our deadline. Those available showed some shifts, as in the case of T-Mobile. For more than a year, the big driver of lobbying spending for carriers was seen to be the FCC broadcast TV incentive auction, scheduled to be starting next March. T-Mobile spent $1.62 million in 2015’s Q2, $1.18 million in Q1 and $1.3 million in 2014’s Q4.
T-Mobile’s Q3 lobbying encompassed backing for the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act and “lobbying activities and contact specific to wireless policy on consumer protection and privacy issues in the House and Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees” in addition to “general lobbying activities on spectrum policy and related recommendations in the FCC's National Broadband Plan,” said the company report, which lists seven in-house lobbyists. A T-Mobile spokesman declined comment.
The carrier hired Waxman earlier this year and paid Waxman Strategies $18,750 last quarter solely for his lobbying. Waxman, a Democratic House lawmaker from California who has led the Commerce Committee, was often active on spectrum issues and promoting competition when in Congress. Waxman lobbied the FCC and the White House on behalf of T-Mobile, focusing on the incentive auction, the Waxman Strategies report said.
Tauzin, meanwhile, lobbied the Senate and House on the reserve in the auction that T-Mobile wanted and received $10,000. He represented Louisiana in the House from 1980 to 2005, initially as a Democrat and later as a Republican, and also had led the Commerce Committee. His son Thomas and Michael Meirovitz also lobbied as part of Tauzin Consultants, their firm.
AT&T and Verizon tend to be heavy spenders on lobbying and Sprint less so, in the past frequently spending less on lobbying than T-Mobile even when Sprint was considered the third-biggest carrier. U.S. Cellular spent $90,000 in Q3 on lobbying on spectrum and universal service fund policy. The Competitive Carriers Association, which has T-Mobile as a member, upped its lobbying spending by $15,000, to spend $150,000 in Q3, naming many spectrum issues at play.
Dish Network, which reported lobbying on “wireless competition and spectrum management, including spectrum auctions,” spent more this year than last -- $380,000, up from $370,000. Dish also lobbied on broader issues, such as retransmission consent overhaul and “issues related to video marketplace competition and merger and acquisition activity in the pay-TV industry,” it said.
Spectrum was just one of many issues that 21st Century Fox cited in its lobbying, which amounted to $1.44 million in Q3. The company spent $1.4 million during the same period last year. Its other issues included retrans consent, cybersecurity, Internet governance, data security and media ownership. Sinclair spent slightly less this Q3, $50,000, vs. $55,000 before. Its big focus was on Senate and House legislation to grandfather existing broadcaster joint sales agreements, it said, also naming broadcast exclusivity rules, retrans and media ownership among priorities.
NCTA spent dramatically less: $3.02 million on lobbying, vs. $3.81 million Q3 2014. Last year’s must-pass satellite TV reauthorization fueled lobbying in the video space, and this year has involved fewer debates over video. But NCTA still lobbied on several pieces of legislation, citing those on FCC process overhaul and consolidated reporting, and the JSA legislation that Sinclair lobbied on.
Charter Communications, which has deals pending to acquire Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, spent far more in the most recent quarter. It spent $980,000, up from the $640,000 it spent in Q3 2014. It has gone on a spree hiring firms in recent months.
Few other big shifts were immediately apparent in many Q3 records. NTCA spent $140,000 last quarter and $120,000 in the year-ago quarter. NTCA’s spending included $10,000 in the most recent quarter for the hiring of Arent Fox’s Byron Dorgan, a former Democratic senator from North Dakota. Dorgan is also still lobbying the FCC on behalf of TiVo, focusing on set-top box issues and the Downloadable Security Technology Advisory Committee. TiVo paid Arent Fox $40,000 in Q3 for Dorgan’s services. The American Cable Association upped its spending $20,000 last quarter from the same one a year ago. ITTA spent slightly more, $32,500 vs. $20,000.