Eye in Monitor-for-SW-banner.jpg

The U.S. counter terrorism apparatus was used to monitor the Occupy Movement nationwide.

Click here to read CMD's special report, based on a year-long investigation.

AT&T

From SourceWatch
(Redirected from BellSouth Corporation)
Jump to: navigation, search


Learn more about Pete Peterson-funded astroturf projects at the Fix the Debt Portal.

Learn more about corporations VOTING to rewrite our laws.
Campaign to Fix the Debt
Company Profile
Company Name AT&T
CEO Name Randall Stephenson
CEO Compensation $22,018,334
CEO Retirement Assets $47,001,565
Underfunded Company Pension -$10,203,000,000
Annual Company Revenue $126,723,000,000
Tax Dodger ('08-'10) 8.0%
Federal Lobbying/Political Donations ('09-'12*) $64,384,751
Click here for sources.
2011 data unless otherwise noted.
©2013 Center for Media and Democracy

AT&T is a global telecommunications and networking company that operates in 60 countries and 850 cities worldwide. The company is divided into AT&T Business Services and AT&T Consumer Services. In 2005, SBC Communications Inc. (formerly the Southwestern Bell Corporation) bought AT&T Corp., creating the largest telecommunications company in the U.S, and started using the AT&T brand name. I\

In 2006, AT&T purchased BellSouth for $86 billion in the largest telecommunications takeover in U.S. history. AT&T now services more than 68 million phone lines. Cingular Wireless changed into AT&T Mobility which is under AT&T and is the country's largest wireless carrier. [1]

In 2011, AT&T reported total operating revenues of $126,723,000,000.[2]

Ties to Pete Peterson's "Fix the Debt"

The Campaign to Fix the Debt is the latest incarnation of a decades-long effort by former Nixon man turned Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson to slash earned benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare under the guise of fixing the nation's "debt problem."

This article is part of the Center for Media and Democracy's investigation of Pete Peterson's Campaign to "Fix the Debt." Please visit our main SourceWatch page on Fix the Debt.

About Fix the Debt
The Campaign to Fix the Debt is the latest incarnation of a decades-long effort by former Nixon man turned Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson to slash earned benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare under the guise of fixing the nation's "debt problem." Through a special report and new interactive wiki resource, the Center for Media and Democracy -- in partnership with the Nation magazine -- exposes the funding, the leaders, the partner groups, and the phony state "chapters" of this astroturf supergroup. Learn more at PetersonPyramid.org and in the Nation magazine.


Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

AT&T is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and is on ALEC's corporate "Private Enterprise" Board. William Leahy, Vice President of State and Legislative Affairs for AT&T, represents the corporation on ALEC's corporate board as of 2011. [3] [4] AT&T is the State corporate co-chair of Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas as of 2011.[5]

A list of ALEC Corporations can be found here.

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.


Ted Mullenix, CEO of lobbying firm Mullenix & Associates[6] and widely considered Arkansas' top lobbyist,[7] represents AT&T at ALEC as the Arkansas state chair[5] alongside Rep. Linda Collins-Smith (D) and Sen. Michael Lamoureux (R)[8] Pete Hernandez, Executive Director of Legislative Affairs at AT&T,[9] represents AT&T as the California state chair[5] alongside Sen. Joel C. Anderson (R).[8] John Emra, Executive Director of External Affairs for AT&T's Connecticut operations,[10] represents AT&T as the Connecticut state chair[5] alongside Rep. DebraLee Hovey (R) and Sen. Kevin Witkos (R).[8] Daniel Wilson represents AT&T as the Louisiana state chair[5] alongside Rep. George Cromer (R) and Rep. Joe Harrison (R-51).[8] Randal Russell, Executive Director of Bell South,[11] represents AT&T as the Mississippi state chair[5] alongside Rep. Jim Ellington (R).[8] Holly Reed, Senior Vice President of External Affairs at AT&T,[12] represents AT&T as the Texas state chair[5] alongside Rep. Charlie Howard (R), Rep. Jim Jackson (R) and Sen. Kel Seliger (R)
.[8]

AT&T was also a "Chairman" level sponsor of ALEC's 38th Annual Conference in 2011[13] (at a rate of $50,000 as of 2010)[14] and a member of the Louisiana Host Committee.[14]

Jim Epperson, Jr., the Senior Vice President of AT&T, is the former chairman of the "Private Enterprise Board.[15]

Randall L. Stephenson, President and CEO of AT&T, spoke to ALEC on August 5, 2010; see the video here. [16]

AT&T has used ALEC model legislation to its advantage to prevent public utilities from laying fiber-optic cables to provide high-speed internet access. At ALEC's annual meeting in Orlando in 2002, a model bill that created significant hurdles for public utilities interested in funding fiber-optic cables. The bill originated in Utah, where two telecom companies lobbied for the set of bullet points upon which the bill was based. Greg Curtis, the Republican assistant majority whip in Utah at the time who was lobbied, could not remember exactly which companies had provided the bullet points, but suspected that one of them was AT&T. [17]

The ALEC model bill has since been passed in six states. It was adopted in the state of Louisiana at State Bill 877, and has played a crucial role in preventing public utilities from laying fiber-optic networks. After the bill was passed, BellSouth (which is now owned by AT&T) and Cox Communications used litigation to try to derail a fiber-optic project in Lafayette. They demanded that a referendum take place on the project, which the bill suggests, and BellSouth orchestrated an extensive ad campaign to convince the public that the project shouldn't go through. In addition, Cox paid for a telephone poll that suggested that a public utility might "ration" television. The two companies also filed a lawsuit to prevent the city from issuing bonds to finance the project. Since the passage of the bill, no other municipality has attempted to use a public utility to lay fiber-optic cables. [17]

Political contributions

Open Secrets reports that in 2010, AT&T gave $3.7 million to federal candidate and pro-corporate PACs. $1,612,582 was given to Democrats and $2,035,949 to Republicans.

On June 30, 2011, the Center for Responsive Politics wrote, "Contributions to lawmakers and federal lobbying expenditures by telecommunications interests have spiked as a result of government intervention in the market. Facing potentially stifling federal regulations that threaten to short-circuit their profits, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile have each dumped millions of dollars into campaign contributions and federal lobbying expenditures, hoping that a barrage of political influence will subdue any unwanted restrictions." [18]

Past Elections

Edward E. Whitacre Jr., then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SBC (AT&T), was a Bush Ranger having raised at least $200,000 for Bush in the 2004 presidential election. [19]

AT&T gave $2,341,683 to federal candidates in the 2006 election cycle through its three political action committees - 34% to Democrats, 66% to Republicans. [20] [21] [22]

Lobbying

In 2010, AT&T spent $15,395,078 on lobbying expenses.[23] You can see a full list of AT&T's lobbying firms and lobbyists HERE.

You can view a list of the federal bills AT&T lobbied for in 2010 HERE.

The company spent $23,070,720 for lobbying in 2006. $3,960,000 went to 25 outside lobbying firms with the remainder being spent using in-house lobbyists.[24]

Leadership

Randall L. Stephenson Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Ralph de la Vega President and CEO-AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets Ronald E. Spears Senior Executive Vice President, Executive Operations John T. Stankey President and CEO, AT&T Business Solutions Rayford Wilkins, Jr Chief Executive Officer — AT&T Diversified Businesses Alex Mandl Former President

Personnel

Executives

As of January 2013[25]

  • Randall L. Stephenson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
  • William A. Blase, Jr., Senior Executive Vice President – Human Resources
  • James W. Cicconi, Senior Executive Vice President – External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T Services, Inc
  • Cathy M. Coughlin, Senior Executive Vice President and Global Marketing Officer
  • Ralph de la Vega, President and Chief Executive Officer - AT&T Mobility
  • John Donovan, Senior Executive Vice President, AT&T Technology and Network Operations
  • Andrew M. Geisse, Chief Executive Officer — AT&T Business Solutions
  • Ronald E. Spears, Senior Executive Vice President – Executive Operations
  • John T. Stankey, Group President and Chief Strategy Officer
  • John Stephens, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
  • Wayne Watts, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Former executives include[26]

  • James W. Callaway, former Senior Executive Vice President-Executive Operations
  • Richard G. Lindner, former Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Board of Directors

As of January 2013[27]

Former board members include[28]

  • William F. Aldinger III
  • August A. Busch III, Former Chairman of the Board of Anheuser-Busch
  • Lynn M. Martin
  • Patricia P. Upton
  • Mary S. Metz

Annual Revenue

2011[29]
Total Revenue: $126.7 billion
Net Income: $4.2 billion

2010
Total Revenue: $124.3 billion
Net Income: $20.2 billion

2009
Total Revenue: $122.5 billion
Net Income: $12.4 billion

2008
Total Revenue: $123.4 billion
Net Income: $-2.4 billion

2007
Total Revenue: $118.3 billion
Net Income: $17.2 billion

Contact information

175 E. Houston
San Antonio, TX 78205
Phone: 210-821-4105
Fax: 210-351-2071
Web: http://www.att.com

Articles and Resources

Featured SourceWatch Articles on Fix the Debt

Related SourceWatch articles

External articles

This article may include information from Tobacco Documents Online.

Search the Documents Archives of the Tobacco Industry
Legacy Tobacco Documents Library:

References

  1. ↑ Profile, Hoovers, accessed July 2007.
  2. ↑ AT&T,"2011 Annual Report", organizational document, page 3.
  3. ↑ Private Enterprise Board, ALEC website, accessed July 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ PRNewswire, AT&T Contribution Supports Ellis Island Museum Expansion, Foxcarolina.com, July 1, 2011, accessed July 8, 2011.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 American Legislative Exchange Council, "Solutions for the States," 38th Annual Meeting agenda, on file with CMD, August 3-6, 2011
  6. ↑ Linked In, Ted Mullenix, online business profile, accessed August 11, 2011
  7. ↑ Michael R. Wickline, Interests of clients duty for lobbyists: STATE’S ELITE MAKE PRESENCE KNOWN, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 9, 2011
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC State Chairmen, organization website, accessed June 30, 2011
  9. ↑ Linked In, Pete Hernandez, online business profile, accessed August 11, 2011
  10. ↑ Connecticut Technology Council, Board Members: John Emra, organizational biography, accessed August 11, 2011
  11. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, 2010 Lobbyist Information: Russell, Randal C., state government elections site, accessed August 11, 2011
  12. ↑ Development Board Welcomes New Chairman, UTD News Center, May 20, 2010.
  13. ↑ American Legislative Exchange Council, 2011 Conference Sponsors, conference brochure on file with CMD, August 4, 2011
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 American Legislative Exchange Council, Sponsorship Opportunities at ALEC's Annual Meeting, organizational website, 2010, accessed August 4, 2011
  15. ↑ Julie Kosterlitz, Smith Out at ALEC, National Journal, December 15, 2009
  16. ↑ Randall Stephenson, President and CEO of AT&T, remarks to ALEC, ALEC website, Aug. 5, 2011, accessed July 8, 2011.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Brendan Greeley and Alison Fitzgerald, Pssst ... Wanna Buy a Law? Bloomberg Businessweek, December 1, 2011
  18. ↑ Center for Responsive Politics, Capital Rivals: A Telecom Battle Royal, Open Secrets, June 30, 2011, accessed July 10, 2011.
  19. ↑ Pioneers and Rangers, Texans for Public Justice, accessed August 2007.
  20. ↑ PAC C00185124, Open Secrets, accessed July 2007.
  21. ↑ PAC C00109017, Open Secrets, accessed July 2007.
  22. ↑ PAC C00368811, Open Secrets, accessed July 2007.
  23. ↑ Lobbying Expenses, "Open Secrets"
  24. ↑ AT&T Inc lobbying expenses, Open Secrets.
  25. ↑ AT&T, Executive Bios, organizational website, accessed January 2013
  26. ↑ Executives, AT&T, accessed July 2007.
  27. ↑ AT&T, Corporate Governance, organizational website, accessed January 2013
  28. ↑ AT&T Board, accessed September 2008.
  29. ↑ AT&T,"2011 Annual Report", organizational document, page 30.
Retrieved from "http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=AT%26T&oldid=607691"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
How To
Other Info
Other Policies
Google AdSense
Toolbox