Joe,

This cable company versus telephone company battle could turn out to be one of the major behind-the-scenes fights in the General Assembly this year.

The situation offers a good illustration of the unintended consequences of government regulation.

Consider the following: under normal circumstances, neither the telephone industry nor the cable industry want much regulation. Both groups would like to have as much freedom as possible to provide services to customers and make money from the transaction.

But years of regulation have placed the cable companies in a position of arguing for more regulation. Now that they have entered the phone companies’ turf, the phone companies plan to follow suit.

A disinterested consumer looks at the situation and says, “Wow, more television options. I hope that means lower prices.”

The cable companies say, “Wait a minute. Why should these phone guys be able to offer video service without having to follow all the complicated, costly franchise rules we have to endure?”