Told You So: Cable Rates Continue To Rise Despite Wisconsin Law
Today the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau reported that in spite of the 2007 "Cable Competition Act," cable rates kept going up. Surprise! Lower cable rates were explicitly and implicitly promised by the law's legislative and corporate sponsors, not to mention its astroturf advertising campaign. But rates keep rising.
This isn't exactly news: Scott Bauer's AP story was headlined: "Audit: Wisconsin cable rates rose 21% in two years."
Basic cable rates in Wisconsin increased an average of 21 percent over the past two years, despite a new law designed to increase competition and lower costs, an audit released Tuesday said.
The data suggests that the law which took effect in 2008 did not have a substantial effect on either lowering charges or slowing their growth, State Auditor Janice Mueller said in a letter to lawmakers who chair the Legislature's Audit Committee.
"This isn't a surprise because cable rates go up every year no matter what happens in a state Legislature," said University of Wisconsin-Madison telecommunications professor Barry Orton. He lobbied against the changes and predicted then that they wouldn't live up to the hype. Orton said Tuesday that the audit proves he was correct.
"Rates would have gone up just the same if the law hadn't been passed," he said.
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