"George A. Gleason" says:

You ask, "why have telecoms prices been declining for years?" and cite overseas calls as an example. In fact, the actual cost of local service has gone up over 240% since deregulation, according to a detailed research report a friend of mine is about to publish.

What has happened is that the price the consumer sees has gone up. AT&T used to subsidize local service with long distance service -- this cross subsidy has ended. Local service is not deregulated anywhere in the U.S., so your friend's study is meaningless. Long distance prices have dropped dramatically, even taking subsidy elimination into account. Competition works, George. Fabian socialism is what doesn't. Perry