This article combines multiple aspects as a single issue. They are not. A. Single. Issue.

Net neutrality is the ability to send one’s data over someone else’s lines without fees, or disruption.
I’ll skip this because I haven’t yet made up my mind on the idea. I probably never really will.

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Billing is a problem we all agree on. But as much as I support cost at advertisement, and tax included for that matter, there’s more to this.
Many of those bonus fees are actually created by the state and federal governments.

Mandatory broadcast fee. Because you can’t get cable with out broadcast stations by law.

Region sports fees. Which are part of the mandatory broadcast nonsense.

State taxes. Because
Federal taxes. Because

Equipment fees. Well, you are renting and can use your own if you want.
The car dealer doesn’t teach you how to change your oil or swap your tires. They don’t reduce the price if you buy the car without the tires. Or seat belt. Or etc.
Including this in the advertising price would be misleading to users of their own equipment, who don’t pay these fees.

Franchise fee. Another state level government fee. This is what local and state governments charge The company each month (divided by users) to have the right to fix their (company’s) own equipment and lines.

Public/gov etc. because the cable company is required to carry these stations ANd pay to carry them.

E911. This is a joke. It’s a pure pudding. E911 doesn’t cost the company any money because, digital phone uses the same lines as analog phone outside the company’s lines. The equipment is the same as used for every other phone call. And there is zero difference in transmission of 976-fine or 911. It’s a bullshite charge the states make on the company. Who passes it on to you.

988 fee. Charged by states with 988 access fees. Again, passed on to you.

FUSF. Because congress can’t figure out how to pay for it’s laws properly. This is the cost the company pays into the fund per user. As required by law.

So break that down. 9 fees the government charges.
The government can greatly help reduce cable bills by removing these fees. Themselves.

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Access. Well, the federal government has the ability to do this themselves. If they actually wanted to.

Here’s reality. The government wants to pretend it cares. So they throw grants at telcos that are a tiny fraction of what’s needed for an every door rollout.
Then they demand that every company be allowed to use the lines (net neutrality) the company mostly, or completely, paid for!
And then they go on lat night talking head shows and complain about how nothing is getting done.
National access requires federal building! Not minions in offices.
(Here’s a great idea to find this. Reduce congressional pay by 10%!)
But if anyone actually wants this they’ll introduce a bill with no pig parts. Which will overwhelmingly pass just find it realistically: like the discretionary budget. Or here’s an idea! An actual good one! Commemorative Coin! A lost art of raising money, popular before the 1940s and 1950s when it got out of control and every plan had a coin. Or tried for one.
Watch how fast people buy out a computer obverse coin. Seriously!

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Monopoly

This is a problem, and not for the reasons you believe.
Democrats cry apocalypse every time a company tries to buy another one.
Republicans tend to rubber stamp almost all of them.

Monopolies are not bad for their own existence.
Apple and Samsung supply the vast majority of the world’s mobile communications. Quite well.
They are also by default absolutely not monopolies nor a duopoly.
Even if one bought the other right now, little would change because there’s actually outside competition.
The only thing T-Mobile did by buying Sprint was tarnish it’s name with such a crap company. Generally rates maintained parity with the past. Network coverage was expanded, and combined with minor changes to equipment more people have better access to 5G than would have had they stayed separate.

The Bell breakup gave us some of the biggest scandals in history with MCI and today we are right back where we were with a small pocket of mega-corps. The market combined with tech advances, not the breakup, gave us quality and access.

Comcast owning NBC and Disney owning Fox and ABC hasn’t actually changed anything. Except give respective customers a previous pay channels for free.

And let’s be honest. Most of these companies are easy to reach. It’s user error that causes most of the “problems” in tech/com.
You don’t read what you agree to. You forget promo expiration dates. You don’t listen to the menu when you call. You scream at the CSR because you’re an idiot.
Phone, email, online, text, chat, twitface. Dedicated Apps! We have more contact options than ever.
And while it takes time to fix things I’ve never had trouble getting ahold of someone at a telco. Be it Comcast, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.

You can’t get a voice, but you can get 1:1 text help with a real person after hours for most big tech and com companies.

And, keep in mind, a capitalist marketplace will quickly set limits on companies of the government decided to connect the population itself! That’s not political hyperbole. It’s consistent fact.

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But let’s start with forcing the government to knock off the bills it forces us to pay for cable. Mandatory carry adds between $30-$60 to the majority of bills. And other government charged fees, direct or indirect, can add $15 or more still.

Next time you look at your $200 cable bill, line item the number of things you actually ordered and the number of things you didn’t ask for.
Your service is half your bill or less.

The rest is mandated government spoon feeding or government take-take-taking.
Talk about violations of free speech, forcing NBC to carry ABC and Fox and CBS is forced speech.
Think on that a bit.