After the Wednesday report of The Washington Post website, about the efforts to bring cellular service to the McCain ranch, two of the country’s largest telephone companies - Verizon and AT&T – said they have installed temporary communications towers there. At the same time, both also added that they did so for business reasons, and not at the request of Senator John McCain.

The efforts towards bringing cellphone coverage to the remote 15-acre ranch nestled deep in a tree-lined canyon called Hidden Valley, near Sedona, Arizona, began in early 2007, about the time when McCain launched his presidential bid. It was Cindy McCain, the senator’s wife, who asked Verizon to expand service to their residence in the sparsely populated valley.

Verizon delivered a portable tower known as a “cell site on wheels” - free of charge - to the McCain property, after the Secret Service began inquiring about improving coverage in the area. Jeff Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon, said: “The Secret Service is a customer of ours. Our contract with them specifically says that when they need service for any reason related to accomplishing their mission, we must do it, at no charge, and provide 24/7 human expertise.”

In the case of AT&T - which followed suit by wheeling in a portable tower for free to match Verizon’s offer – the circumstances were different. Claudia Jones, an AT&T spokeswoman, said that after it became clear that Mr. McCain would become the Republican nominee, the company “made a business decision” to install a temporary tower for only the duration of the campaign. She added: “You can’t have a presidential nominee in an area where there is not cell coverage.”

Ethics lawyers said Cindy McCain’s dealings with the wireless companies stand out because her husband is a senior member of the Senate commerce committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission and the telecommunications industry. However, Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, pointed out: “Mrs. McCain and her staff went through the public Web site as any member of the public would. No strings were pulled, and there was no involvement of Senate staff.”