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Which ISPs Spend the Most Money on Lobbying?

Last year was the biggest ISP-lobbying year on record, with $80 million spent. But over the past two decades, telecom giants including AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying efforts.

June 7, 2019
The Why Axis ISP Lobbying

Tech giants have ramped up their lobbying efforts in the last few years as more regulation looms, but the lobbying dollars Silicon Valley is pumping into Washington, DC pale in comparison to what the telecommunications industry has spent over the past two decades lobbying at local, state, and federal levels.

The Why Axis Bug Internet service providers (ISPs) spend millions on lobbying each year on advocating for loosening regulations and major mergers, such as the T-Mobile-Sprint deal. Money has also gone to jockeying for preference and position in 5G infrastructure rollout. According to Comparitech, 2018 was the biggest year on record for ISP lobbying in terms of dollars spent, at $80 million.

Comparitech analyzed lobbying trends over the past 21 years and found that US ISPs spent more than $1.2 billion on lobbying from 1998 to 2018. AT&T has spent the most over that period at more than $341 million, followed by Verizon at almost $265 million and Comcast at a little over $200 million. Sprint and T-Mobile are much further behind, but their lobbying expenses have gone up in recent years, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

In 2018, AT&T again took the top spot with $15.8 million spent—unsurprising given the federal government's revived but ultimately unsuccessful effort to stop the telecom giant's $85 billion merger with Time Warner. The successful deal paves the way for a new era at the company, opening the door for products like AT&T's forthcoming WarnerMedia streaming service.

Behind AT&T's lobbying expenditure last year was Comcast, in second place at $15.8 million, and Verizon, in third at almost $10.5 million. Coming in fourth was Charter Communications at $9.4 million; it was followed by (T-Mobile owner) Deutsche Telekom at $8.1 million.

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About Rob Marvin

Associate Features Editor

Rob Marvin is PCMag's Associate Features Editor. He writes features, news, and trend stories on all manner of emerging technologies. Beats include: startups, business and venture capital, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, AI, augmented and virtual reality, IoT and automation, legal cannabis tech, social media, streaming, security, mobile commerce, M&A, and entertainment. Rob was previously Assistant Editor and Associate Editor in PCMag's Business section. Prior to that, he served as an editor at SD Times. He graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. You can also find his business and tech coverage on Entrepreneur and Fox Business. Rob is also an unabashed nerd who does occasional entertainment writing for Geek.com on movies, TV, and culture. Once a year you can find him on a couch with friends marathoning The Lord of the Rings trilogy--extended editions. Follow Rob on Twitter at @rjmarvin1.

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