Many others are still waiting, weeks after first calling Ameritech. Or the absence of law. For weeks, the Hamptons' line was dead. Hampton is just one of thousands of phone customers who've struggled to get through to Ameritech recently. But Ameritech has little trouble getting through to policymakers when it comes to pushing its agenda at the Statehouse.
Critics say the company knows exactly how to make the right connections.
CAC has fought Ameritech's lobbying juggernaut for years. Public records detail the politics and power of the company, which is consistently among the top spenders at the Statehouse. Over the past four years, Ameritech paid out more than a million dollars on lobbying and on campaign gifts to Indiana Democrats and Republicans alike. Both Gov. Frank O'Bannon, a Democrat, and his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. David McIntosh, have accepted thousands of dollars from Ameritech in past years. McIntosh received his money on the federal level, where Ameritech and its parent company spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.