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Vonage Lobbied on Competition(AP Online Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) WASHINGTON_Internet phone company Vonage Holdings Corp. spent nearly $1.4 million to lobby the federal government in 2007. The company lobbied Congress on telecommunications competition and consumer issues, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 13 by the Senate's public records office. In January, Vonage settled litigation with Nortel Networks, the latest in a series of multimillion-dollar patent settlements with traditional telecommunications companies. Last year, the Holmdel, N.J.-based company agreed to pay AT&T Inc. $39 million to settle a patent suit. Vonage also settled lawsuits with Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. for a total of $200 million in 2007. Vonage spent more than $601,000 in the second half of the year lobbying on those issues, according to its most recent filing. Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995. Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |