^{Democracy & Technology Blog} Texas consumers score

A survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute documents significant consumer savings as a result of the statewide franchise legislation enacted in Texas. For example:

“The benefits claimed by those who switched were very substantial. According to the survey, customers that claimed benefits from switching to a competitor saved, on average, $22.50 per month on their cable bill, and those switching to any provider saved, on average, $22.27 per month. This suggests that price competition is occurring among the providers. For these customers, the savings represented approximately a 30% decrease in price, which is nearly identical to the FCC’s estimate of 27% lower price per channel in competitive markets (footnote omitted). From this, we can safely assume that the new competitor dropped prices and incumbents responded — either preemptively or post-entry — by offering similar discounts. The result is that competitive entry has led to heightened price competition, and, as a result, consumers are saving.”