Corporate lobbyists use sweeteners to win over regulators
There’s more than political donations or legions of arm-twisting lobbyists in the Washington lobbying toolbox. Sometimes, there’s a status symbol cupcake, as Edward Wyatt reported in the New York Times. With AT&T facing what would appear to be a formidable task of convincing the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department to approve its proposed $39 billion merger with T-Mobile, one wonders if the company will be strategically delivering chocolate Easter eggs to the regulators this time around. Wyatt likened the delivery of the sought-after cupcakes to offices within the FCC during holiday season to a military operation. The breakdown of who got how many cupcakes was labeled “proprietary.” (more…)
Topics: Dept. of Justice, Featured Articles, Federal Communications Commission, Free Agency
Tags: $39 billion, AT&T merger, AT&T-T-Mobile merger, Department of Justice, Dept. of Justice, FCC, Federal Communications Commission, georgetown cupcake, Justice Department, merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, T-Mobile merger
Tags: $39 billion, AT&T merger, AT&T-T-Mobile merger, Department of Justice, Dept. of Justice, FCC, Federal Communications Commission, georgetown cupcake, Justice Department, merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, T-Mobile merger
Around many of America’s largest cities, high occupancy toll lanes offer drivers the option of paying to get to their destination faster. Similarly, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Verizon, Comcast, and Time Warner are gatekeepers to broadband Internet access lanes and have the ability assign priority lanes — with better quality and faster speeds — to those who pay a premium. The ISPs also have an incentive to provide slower access and to block services that compete with their telephone and video services. Advocates for Internet neutrality – a term that connotes different things to different people – want the government to step in to ensure that Internet users (both subscribers and companies that work on the Internet) will have access to the services and applications they choose without interference.
Some people who don’t use broadband think they’re not missing much. But for those whose homes, libraries, public safety networks and healthcare facilities will have broadband access because of the $1.8 billion the government awarded last week, it will make a huge difference.
