NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Federal Trade Commission awarded a six-month $3.5 million contract to help the federal agency establish a national "do not call" registry to an AT&T Corp. subsidiary, despite the telephone company's history of poor telemarketing practices.

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According to a report published in The Washington Post, Federal Communications Commission data shows that 5,714 complaints were lodged against AT&T's telemarketing practices in 2002, 2002 and the first three months of 2003. Approximately one-fifth of these complaints were allegations that AT&T overlooked customers' "do not call" requests.

Richard Callahan, the client services business manager for AT&T's Government Solutions subsidiary, told the paper that his company was chosen over five other firms in an "excruciatingly competitive" bidding process.

"We won on technical merit and price, and we're very proud of it," Callahan told the publication. "Our job will be to protect consumers from unwanted telemarketing calls, and I don't care if they are from a bank, a retailer or a telecommunications company. They will be reported and the fines will be the same for all."

AT&T spokesman Gary Morgenstern told the Post that the number of complaints correlates with the company's size.

"We have more than 40 million long-distance subscribers and we're one of the largest telemarketers around," he told a Post reporter.

The paper also notes that AT&T is not bound by the national "do not call" list mandates because the telephone conglomerate is regulated by the FCC, not the FTC.