WASHINGTON - January 19 - On Wednesday, AT&T announced that it would raise data prices for new customers by up to 20 percent.

Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner made the following statement:

“AT&T's price increases are becoming more frequent than the dreaded annual cable TV rate hikes.

“That AT&T and Verizon both continue to match each other’s prices by ratcheting them up higher, not lower, illustrates just how broken the U.S. wireless market is. The AT&T and Verizon duopoly continues to bilk American consumers and stifle innovation while policymakers who preach the benefits of competition sit idle, paralyzed by the corrupt politics that the duopoly itself creates. Years of Beltway fealty to big telecom have crushed any hope for real competition, so much so that companies like Verizon and Comcast don't even blush when they strike agreements to not compete with each other.

“It's time for this to stop. Policymakers have a duty to bring consumers the benefits of real competition. If they are not willing to put the interests of the American people before the interests of giant corporate political donors, then they should step aside.”