We've discussed how a significant number of states passed new state level video franchise laws at the behest of phone company lobbyists, but didn't really realize what they were signing up for. Bills that consumers were told would result in lower TV prices by making it easier for phone companies to jump into the TV business, in many cases were little more than phone company wish lists -- aimed at legalizing the cherry picking of next-gen broadband deployment, eliminating local authority (even eminent domain rights) and in some cases eliminating tough consumer protection laws.

The one thing the laws were supposed to do -- lower TV prices -- never actually happened.

One of the worst of these bills approved by duped lawmakers was in Wisconsin, where AT&T both wrote and lobbied for a bill that essentially gutted all consumer protections in the state under the auspices of cheaper TV. State residents used to have the right to prompt repairs, saw ensured refunds for service outages, mandated notice of rate increases or service deletions, and carriers had to provide a written notice of disconnection. Not any more. Now a new Wisconsin state audit shows that basic TV prices continue to skyrocket:Of course prices didn't drop because when TV duopolies compete, they have the luxury of engaging in non-price competition, and not having to fully eat higher programming costs. That's something AT&T lobbyists knew, yet they promised lower TV prices anyway. Consumers now not only get the same higher prices they would have seen anyway under the old franchise model, but they're getting fewer consumer protections from anti-competitive and anti-consumer behavior. Wisconsin consumers can thank AT&T, state lawmakers, and AT&T's astroturf operation TV4US for all of it.