Sprint, Twitter, ITI Have Q4 Lobbying Spending Increases
Sprint and Twitter reported significant increases in their Q4 lobbying spending at our deadline Tuesday, while Qualcomm said its expenditures dropped slightly from the same period a year earlier. Many other tech and telecom stakeholders hadn't yet reported their own spending figures, but some outside lobbyists reported receiving fees from them. The deadline to file lobbying spending reports for Q4 was Tuesday.
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Qualcomm reported just over $2 million in Q4 lobbying spending, down 9 percent from the same period in 2017. Outside firms reported $170,000 from lobbying on the company's behalf. Sprint had $690,000 in lobbying spending for Q4, up 13 percent from the same period last year. Outside firms reported collecting more than $347,000 for lobbying for the carrier.
The Information Technology Industry Council reported $460,000 in Q4 spending, up almost 13 percent from the same period in 2017. BSA|The Software Alliance reported $340,000, down more than 2 percent from 2017. Outside lobbyists reported receiving more than $102,000 for work for the group. Twitter listed $320,000 in lobbying spending for Q4, up 128 percent from 2017. Outside firms reported $110,000 from lobbying for the social media platform.
NTCA reported $110,000 in spending for Q4, up more than 37 percent from 2017. BakerHostetler reported $30,000 for work on the group's behalf. The Computer and Communications Industry Association's spending, at $50,000, was up 150 percent from the same period last year.
Comcast had the largest amount of lobbying spending as reported by outside firms, totaling at least $1.53 million. Lobbyists reported at least $1.13 million for advocating on behalf of AT&T and $1.09 million for work on behalf of T-Mobile. Google's outside lobbyists reported almost $853,000, and NCTA's lobbyists listed $705,000. Verizon had spent at least $621,000, outside lobbyists reported. Facebook's firms reported $435,000, and Charter's, more than $417,000.
Lobbyists also reported partial figures for several other major industry stakeholders: $280,000 from NAB, $150,000 from Cox, $130,000 from Apple and $150,000 from USTelecom.