'splain me 'squashed', willya?
It's all easily observable throughout history. Any new cell phone network operators recently in your part of the world, providing better or cheaper solutions?
mmm hmm... and which upstart 'cell phone network operators' were 'squashed' in this manner?
To name but one example in Brazil, a few big construction companies could just bribe some politicians and top brass of Petrobas for all kinds of big deals, that their competitors would not get. That got blown up in the end because the judicial system does still work over there.
Monopoly in your example created by central authority, not a free market. It is very likely that the monopoly of mobile operators is also the result of the work of the corrupt central authority.