AT&T paid almost $1m to US lawmakers urging approval for T-Mobile purchase

US TELECOMS OPERATOR AT&T gave over $950,000 to lawmakers, urging them to sign off on its proposed purchase of T-Mobile USA.

US Representative Pete Olson and 99 other House Republicans submitted a letter asking the Obama administration to resolve a US Department of Justice (DoJ) lawsuit against AT&T and let the firm's proposed $39bn purchase of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom go ahead. The signed letter isn't particularly surprising until you realise that AT&T had paid $963,275 in total to all but one of those signing the letter.

You would think Olsen would try to distance himself from AT&T while calling for the firm to become the only wireless provider in some parts of the US, but no. Bloomberg reports that he will be attending the Telecommunications Industry Lunch today, which is backed by AT&T lobbyists with suggested donations of $500, $1,000 or $2,500, though the firm itself isn't sponsoring the event.

The Republicans said that if the deal between AT&T and Deutsche Telekom goes south it "will thwart job creation and economic growth and undermine your own efforts to achieve our shared goal". That statement comes despite the DoJ stating that any deal could lead to higher prices for consumers.

However not only Republican representatives have a vested interest in the AT&T and T-Mobile USA deal. Earlier this month 15 Democrats, led by Heath Shuler, signed a similar letter urging the deal be allowed to go ahead. Shuler, according to Bloomberg, has received $24,000 from AT&T employees since 2005.

AT&T is desperately trying to rescue its proposed deal to purchase T-Mobile USA. Not only has the DoJ come out against it, several major US states, including California and New York, have also opposed the deal.

If AT&T's deal does fall through, it will have to pay Deutsche-Telekom $3bn. µ