The Supreme Court has given incumbent telcos a free pass on their abuse of monopoly power by dismissing a suit alleging conspiracy to prevent competitors from offering phone and broadband services. While the legal standard for anti-trust could barely not be met, the suit does show a strong history of industry-wide collusion in not entering each other's markets and offering similar pricing and service options throughout the country in a manner similar to the similarly corrupt payday loan industry. The ruling specified that while there is strong evidence of said collusion, it doesn't pass muster with the Sherman Act. Expect telcos to more boldly hinder local competition now that they know they can more-or-less get away with it.
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