An editorial first posted over at the Wall Street Journal recently bubbled up over at GigaOM. In it, "management consultant" Rags Srinivasan talks about how AT&T and Verizon are, like most duopolies, just pretending to compete -- giving each other winks and nods when it's time to raise prices. The latest example of course is Verizon's new shared data plans, which jack up the price of data dramatically to offset a reduction in user voice minute and SMS consumption. AT&T's expected to now soon introduce pricing that's probably going to be worse, and according to Srinivasan, two duopolists engaged in pricing collusion is just good clean fun:Srinivasan ignores of course that Verizon and AT&T have effectively cornered the market, and while there is growth on the prepaid front, that's little more than a gnat to the nation's two largest carriers -- whose lobbying muscle has resulted in regulatory capture (read: they literally write telecommunications law in most states). That may be fun and games to Srinivasan, but it's anti-competitive collusion that results in consumers being absolutely ravaged when it comes to data pricing. Consumers certainly can't wait to see what kind of "creative" price penalties will be tied to AT&T's new shared data plans. If this is "business at its best," Mr. Srinivasan has some very low standards for excellence.