[Will]

Sorry to take the OT even more OT...

Well, that's the way pricing on "service" commodities works, where there is often a geographical monopoly. The price will always expand to the precise point that the market will bear. Even things like satellite TV and cellular phones, where there often is not a geographical monopoly, you get the same effects out of mandatory length service contracts. Because it would cost too much to switch to a competitor, few people ever do. And so, companies can increase charges right up to the point where they begin to lose customers. Same reason why Microsoft can charge $280 retail for Windows XP Professional ($140 OEM) and people still pay it; because the costs of training and getting equivalent software for a different platform are initially too high.

If it's any consolation on the cell phone costs, there will probably be a law passed sometime in the next few decades that requires wireless providers to open up their networks to competitors, and keep the charge for using a competitors network reasonable. Then, the cellular phone system would be more similar to long-distance service for land-lines, and there would be more direct competition, driving prices down. So, places like my old hometown in Pennsylvania, which has only one cellular provider, would be open to all providers, with the same resources devoted to coverage, and places like my current hometown, Los Angeles, would still have all the providers there, but the coverage would get better because the different networks become one network. Which also means no more needing to check with your friends to see who has the best reception in a particular spot, and no more finding out that your new apartment has zero reception for your service, but perfect reception for your friend's service.