An oligopoly is where a few firms dominate an industry. It is hard for new companies to enter the industry as well because of the dominance of the main firms. Essentially, it is a monopoly but there are multiple companies, not one. One example of this is the cell phone service industry. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint hold an oligopoly. The problem with this is that this is a huge industry, with so many people owning data plans and cell phones these days. Because this industry is an oligopoly, the consumers (us) are suffering. These four companies can work together - even though they are rivals - to raise prices because they are so dominant. There are so many random fees customers are charged with, and of course all of these companies are guilty of this behavior. Their customer service is not the greatest either. Another characteristic of an oligopoly is product differentiation, and this industry is no different. Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile have plans that differentiate from each other in cost, data limit, highest video streaming quality, maximum hotspot usage, and even additional streaming services. They have each partnered with different companies too for streaming. Netflix is with T-Mobile, Amazon Prime is with Sprint, and Verizon is with Apple Music, just to name a few partnerships.
https://www.alternet.org/economy/how-big-cell-phone-companies-are-getting-away-ripping-you-each-month
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/verizon-att-t-mobile-sprint-unlimited-data-plan-comparison/
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This was a great example of a pretty abstract concept, oligopolies. You did a great job explaining it in terms of a monopoly to show how there are only a few sellers and hard entry. The cell service industry is a great example of this, and it would be interesting to learn about all the collusion that occurs without anybody knowing to drive up the price.
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