This was posted today by a local blogger in Richmond:

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Cable rates are going up again. What a shock.

"Monthly rates for full standard analog service will increase 5.5 percent in the metro area, from $49.71 to $52.45.

"Further proof the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the biggest sham perpetrated on the American public since One Hour Martinizing. (quoting Kramer).

"Most media ownership regulations were thrown out by the Act, and independents were bought up. The Act was claimed to foster competition, but instead it led to historic industry consolidation, reducing the number of major media companies from around 80 in 1986, to 5 in 2005.

" '..both the cable and the telecommunication industries have become significantly more concentrated since 1996 and customer complaints about lousy service have hit all-time highs. Cable industry rates for consumers have also shot up, increasing some 50 percent between 1996 and 2003.'

"Cavalier and Verizon are both finally starting up in the cable provider race, but it is slow in coming, and can't arrive soon enough."
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It always amuses me when people criticize the "elimination" of regulations as the cause of high prices and no competition (how many more phone company choices do we have now because of the relaxation of telecom regulations in the 80's?)

The fact that prices have finally been allowed to rise high enough to sustain competition is why Cavalier and Verizon are able to compete with Comcast (and he doesn't even mention satellite TV, which has always been a cheaper alternative).

Regulations cause artificially lower prices and less innovation. Or was he just complaining that his constitutional rights to cable TV and internet service have been violated all of these years?