Roll Call's Janie Lorber has an in-depth look at the growing number of lobbying shops devoted to advocating for app-makers, developers, and other small technology firms. The new kid on the block is the Application Developers Alliance, a 3-month-old trade association run by longtime tech lobbyist Jon Potter and backed by Google. The ADA recently made a splash by hiring former Facebook lobbyist Tim Sparapani, who developed a reputation as a privacy expert while working at the ACLU. The ADA also recently brought on seven lobbyists from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Shreck.

The emergence of ADA and the Association for Competitive Technology, an app-focused group backed by Microsoft, has yet to trouble the more established tech trade groups like TechNet. That's because the tech industry's footprint in Washington is still small in comparison to the industry's growing role in the economy, especially with the upcoming battles over privacy and cybersecurity regulations that could have a significant role in shaping those sectors. Google made headlines this week after the company saw a dramatic spike in its spending on lobbying in the first quarter, but the search giant began picking up lobbying spending last summer after it became the target of an antitrust probe by the Federal Trade Commission.

Most small companies that become the target of regulators don't have the resources to retain major lobbyists to pleade their cases. That's why they rely on the largess of the venture capitalists and tech giants that fund such groups in hopes of protecting their platforms and investments. Google argues that many of the antitrust concerns regarding its core search business result from Washington's misunderstanding of the company and the technology industry as a whole. Other tech firms hoping to avoid similar misunderstandings are likely to start making friends on the Hill much earlier in their life cycles.

FCC Approves AT&T Spectrum Transfer to T-Mobile: The Federal Communications Commission approved (PDF) the transfer of spectrum from AT&T to T-Mobile USA as part of the $4 billion breakup fee owed following the failure of AT&T's takeover bid. The package includes spectrum in 128 areas, including 12 of the top 20 markets. The nation's fourth-largest wireless carrier, T-Mobile plans on investing $4 billion to build out its 4G LTE network next year. Members of House Spectrum Working Group Announced: House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., announced the members of a new bipartisan working group on spectrum  on Wednesday. The group will conduct a comprehensive review of spectrum policy to determine how to most efficiently use the nation's airwaves. The group will be chaired by Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif.. The rest of the panel will be comprised of Reps. John Shimkus, R-Ill., Mike Rogers, R-Mich., Steve Scalise, R-La., Diana DeGette, D-Colo., John Barrow, D-Ga., and Donna Christensen, D-V.I.

Congress recently authorized the FCC to conduct incentive auctions to free up broadcast spectrum for use by wireless companies, thanks to the growing demand for mobile broadband driven by smartphones and tablets. The legislation limited the types of conditions the FCC can place on auctions, despite objections from the agency. But it remains uncertain how much spectrum will be relinquished and put up for auction. In fact, how much spectrum is currently in use remains very much in doubt, as former Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps recently pointed out on C-SPAN's "The Communicators". Copps and other stakeholders have called for comprehensive spectrum inventory, which he believes will reveal a "whole bunch of spectrum lying fallow." Such an inventory will doubtless be one of the first proposals considered by the new working group once it begins its work.