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Comcast Signs on Power Lobbyists

Posted on: Saturday, 5 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, is hiring some of the most politically connected lobbyists in the capital as important policy decisions that will affect the industry near.

Over the past four months, the Philadelphia-based company has hired an adviser to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, the former chief of staff to retired House Republican leader Dick Armey and the counsel to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., whose committee has jurisdiction over broadcast, cable and satellite questions.

Additionally, the sister-in-law of White House chief of staff Andrew Card is a Comcast consultant.

Comcast executives said the hires simply represent an effort to enhance the company's image since it became the top cable provider in November with its $29 billion acquisition of AT&T Broadband. They acknowledge the company will step up its role as Washington oversees regulation of new technology and business operations in the cable industry.

"There aren't any major, major issues looming that I think are of crisis proportions," said Kerry Knott, Comcast vice president. Knott worked for Armey, R-Texas, for 14 years and lobbied for Microsoft before joining Comcast in March to head its Washington office.

"We see a lot of things coming on the horizon that we think it makes a lot more sense to start building a team now, and getting to know these members of Congress, and introducing them to our industry well in advance of any major crises," Knott said.

Consumer watchdogs say it is no coincidence that Comcast's lobbying office is getting a boost just as Congress, the federal courts and the Federal Communications Commission consider issues that could have a significant impact on the cable industry.

"The fact that they've reached in and gotten aides of powerful lawmakers and interest groups should alarm the public and consumers who are concerned about poor service, high cable rates and the lack of competition," said Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy in Washington.

The issues include:

-Raising the FCC's current 30 percent cap on nationwide ownership of cable operators by a single company to as high as 45 percent. Comcast claims ownership of 28.1 percent of the nation's cable operators; a recent study by the Center for Public Integrity estimated its share at 31.4 percent.

-Curbing cable bills, which have surged about 50 percent since 1996. Congress is examining whether rate increases result from stymied competition among cable providers. Cable companies say the price spike is caused by higher programming costs passed along from networks, especially sports channels. Comcast's rates, company officials said, have risen by 2 cents per channel over the past four years.

-Regulating cable companies under the same standards used for telephone companies in providing high-speed Internet service. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing an FCC ruling that exempted cable companies from the regulations, which would save them, some believe, from a major surge in costs. Comcast serves 3.3 million high-speed Internet customers, or about 13 percent of the nationwide market.

Before acquiring AT&T Broadband, Comcast was the third-largest cable provider. It serves more than 21 million customers in 41 states.

By the end of the month, Comcast will have five full-time lobbyists in Washington, plus outside consultant Lorine D. Card, sister-in-law to the White House chief of staff. Before the merger, Comcast had one lobbyist in Washington.

The lobbying staff also includes Daschle adviser and fund-raiser Melissa Maxfield and Tauzin counsel Jessica Wallace.

Comcast's chief rival, AOL Time Warner, has six lobbyists in Washington who work on policy issues for all the company's divisions, not just cable, a spokeswoman said. The nation's No. 3 cable provider, St. Louis-based Charter Communications, has no Washington-based lobbyists, relying instead on industry representatives at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

As they watch Comcast with a wary eye, even some of the company's adversaries can't help but grudgingly admire its Washington strategy.

"They're going be smooth, they're going to be effective," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Washington-based Media Access Project, which is challenging parts of the AT&T acquisition in court. "They're going to play both sides of the game. They're obviously spending big bucks to hire very well-connected people."

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On the Net: Comcast: http://www.comcast.com/

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