2. In a few sentences, briefly explain whether the following scenarios are considered collusive (illegal) or not

a. There are two national telecom companies: Splint and Horizon that offer phone and data plans. Splint was initially offering a phone plan that had 10GB of data for $60. Horizon then introduces a new plan that 10GB of data for $75. A month later, Splint increased the price of its 10GB plan to $75 (5 pts)

b. There are two grocery stores, Inter and Marche that sell strawberries and blueberries in a city. During an informal event, the manager of Inter remarked that due to low margins, they are considering only selling blueberries instead of selling both berries. The manager of Marche replied by saying that in that case they might consider selling only strawberries to satisfy the city's demand. A few months later, Inter now only carries blueberries and Marche only offers strawberries. The price for both goods has increased by 25%. (5 pts)

c. There are two companies, Aral and Shell, that operate and compete in the German retail gasoline market. Recently, both firms independently purchased a software that uses a learning algorithm to set prices. A year later, the average price of retail gasoline in Germany has increased by about 10%. (5 pts)