LightSquared doubles size of its lobbying team in 2011

LightSquared, the wireless telecom firm facing Republican complaints that it has benefited from political ties to the White House, has significantly boosted its lobbying this year.

The company has more than doubled the number of lobbying firms on its payroll, from four to nine K Street shops, in the first half of 2011. LightSquared has already spent $830,000 on lobbying in the first six months of year, and is on pace to more than double its K Street expenditures of $695,000 in 2010, according to lobbying disclosure records. If LightSquared’s lobbying spending continues at this clip, the company will spend more on K Street this year than any year since the company first hired lobbyists in 2001.