Triple Play Striking Out With Some Consumers

from the killing-the-golden-goose dept

Wed, Mar 22nd 2006 4:49pm — Joseph Weisenthal

In recent years, the key to both the cable companies' and the telcos' strategy has been to offer the so-called triple play (Data, Video, Voice) to consumers. The assumption has been that consumers want all of these services on one bill, and if they can snag a discount for getting them bundled together that's even better. One problem with this scenario is that video and voice are bound to become mere subsets of data, so the idea of charging for all three may be difficult as competitors enter the ring. Another problem is that consumers may not even want the bundled product. Users are finding that instead of getting discounts, bills have become more confusing, with providers getting more clever about tacking on surprise charges. Also, it's difficult to just switch out one part of the bill to a competing company when a better deal presents itself. The telcos love the lock in, but it makes consumers think twice before subscribing to a bundled package. Even the selling point of a unified bill may lose its appeal, as online bill pay and auto withdrawal makes check writing obsolete. A bundled product can work if consumers actually get a better deal, and operators use it to reduce churn. But if they view bundles as a way to milk more money out of captive consumers, they risk killing the strategy they've invested so much in.

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39 Comments

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TechTrader, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:48pm

Have I ever told you...
Thank you for calling bullshit on all of the...well...bullshit that is out there today? I get one of these "triple-play" offers a day in the mail that I throw away. Why? Because fricking Comcast wants to charge me $46/mo for internet access that I currently get for less than $20/mo. RCN wants to run my bill up to $100/mo(ish) for items that may not aggregate to that amount. Clearly, this is a "get the low hanging idiot fruits" play. Frankly, I wish I had their initial client list. I have a number of things I'd like to sell them!
Keep up the good work.
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- Haywood, 22 Mar 2006 @ 8:47pm
  
  Re: Have I ever told you...
  It would have to be a smokin deal for me to bite, I spend as little as possible for these. Their last offer $84 for the bundle, ends up being well over $100 in reality after the taxes are added in. I grudgingly pay for DSL, local service, a $.03 a minute phone card, and a TV antenna.
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Dufus, 22 Mar 2006 @ 6:27pm

I remember when the idea of bundling came to be 5 or 6 years years ago. Instead of rewarding us for getting it all from one company and giving us a discount, the bastages turned it around and charge more if you don't get all their offerings.

Fuk em all I say.

I can live with my 1200 baud modem.
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- 6 of 1 half dozen of the other, 23 Mar 2006 @ 5:41am
  
  Re:
  You said instead of getting a discount with all services,they charge you more if you dont have them all.
  
  Am I dumb or isnt that the same thing said a different way? I think you confused yourself.
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  - Anonymous Baker, 23 Mar 2006 @ 7:17am
    
    Re: Six and 1/2
    Isn't that the same thing?
    
    Not if it's a baker's dozen!
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ccc, 22 Mar 2006 @ 6:56pm

I have Brighthouse's bundle - cable, high-speed internet, VOIP, all for $130 a month.

Since I don't watch much TV, I would much rather skip the extended cable TV and just pay for internet and voip, but they don;t really allow that... no basic cable service available with those other things, higher costs, etc.
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KC, 22 Mar 2006 @ 8:30pm

bundled triple play
"IF" they view customers as a captive audience to milk????
Of course they do....and even if you gt a good deal for let'ds say, the first six months, after that, the charges are bound to rise...and rise....and rise..... and there you are, locked in.
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jacob, 22 Mar 2006 @ 10:54pm

Bundles
It is indeed all about the "lock in"... Telcos love 'em. 'Cause once you're in they can tell you to **** off when you want a better deal...

Thankfully I only pay for $15 DSL and $.10 a min landline (I don't use it I just use my cell phone) and I paid nothing for my wire hanger for the tv antenna!!!
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Angry Rivethead, 23 Mar 2006 @ 5:33am

We'll see...
If Verizon can actually offer a deal withthier FIOS services. Anyone have any expiriance with Verizon FIOS/TV/Voicewing?
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- Mike Shizzle, 23 Mar 2006 @ 6:18am
  
  Re: We'll see...
  "If Verizon can actually offer a deal withthier FIOS services. Anyone have any expiriance with Verizon FIOS/TV/Voicewing?"
  
  I have FiOS internet service, it's great. 3 times the bandwidth that comcast provides for cheaper! On top of that, it's running on fiber so the latency is real low.
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- Larry K, 23 Dec 2007 @ 5:54am
  
  Re: We'll see...
  Hi,
  I had FIOS installed Dec 7, and received my first bill on Dec 16. The total bill came to $169.24.
  1.The bill is organized in a fashion to confuse and mystify even the most savvy consumer.
  2.They added charges for services I never ordered.
  3.They apply credits in many different areas which can confuse the consumer.
  4.They advertise the triple play for $94.99. Nowhere on the bill does it say $94.99.
  5.The phone system comes activated with special features (BUSY REDIAL) which they bill extra and call it, a PAY PER USE charge.
  6.They say they are comparable to Cablevision Optimum, but there are features that you must pay for such as directory assistance.
  I hope this will help any prospective consumers..
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Neal, 23 Mar 2006 @ 6:40am

Bundles suck
I moved to the Midwest and got screwed by Qwest. The only way to get their advertised price you have to bundle prices. Regardless I got their DSL which is twice the price of SBCYahoo!DSL and a basic phone service which is $5 more than SBC. Then they added about $20 of taxes to both services. I have to pay the certain taxes twice for both services (ie. Federal Surcharge and connection fee. Correct me if I am mistaken but the DSL data comes through the same line as the phone. Why am I paying twice for one connection. Bastards! I would never bundle because I don't want to pay more money for a bunch of services I won't use. My long distance phone card is good enough for me and I don't need 4 DirecTV hookups in my house. If you bundle you save $5. Woop-dee-doo! But then your paying $120 for 6 months then paying $140 after that. Don't forget $30 in taxes and surcharges.
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Jim, 23 Mar 2006 @ 8:28am

Don't forget - no 911!
The bundles that are VOIP based still don't have 911 worked out in all areas. Not to mention no phone when the power is out. When the mutant uprising occurs all they have to do is cut your power and chow down while you tap frantically at your new phone! Perhaps this is Darwin at work..?
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Joe T, 23 Mar 2006 @ 8:31am

There is no way in hell I am going to give my phone service to Brighthouse on VOIP while they still have bi-weekly scheduled service outages during which data is cut off as they massage their routers in hot oil and pamper them. What if I need to dial 911 during one of them? What if I am in the middle of a phone call when the "scheduled outage" occurs? I love the high speed, but there's no way in hell I am going to trust them to consistenly give me a dial tone yet. Funny how every company I have worked for - from Tier 1 ISPs to small startups can keep routers going indefinately (short of a hardware failure) but Brighthouse/TW must go down on a regular basis.
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Allen, 23 Mar 2006 @ 8:33am

Use VOIP
I think you have to really lack savvy as a consumer if you subscribe these packages. My most expensive bill is with my basic cable and internet are about $78/mo. I'm using Sunrocket VOIP, which I paid $199 for 1 yr up front. I could go DSL to be cheaper, but cable is much faster in my experience.
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- sally, 17 Jul 2007 @ 12:24pm
  
  Re: Use VOIP
  Where are you going since SR closed down? I loved it until it disappeared....and have to choose new service quickly.
  
  Sally
  
  Use VOIP by Allen on Mar 23rd, 2006 @ 8:33am
  I think you have to really lack savvy as a consumer if you subscribe these packages. My most expensive bill is with my basic cable and internet are about $78/mo. I'm using Sunrocket VOIP, which I paid $199 for 1 yr up front. I could go DSL to be cheaper, but cable is much faster in my experience.
  
  (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
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Adam, 23 Mar 2006 @ 8:40am

Home town Cable Companies ROCK!!
I live in an area that is dominated by two lousy providers known as Verizon(telco) and Adelphia(cable). Adelphia offers these stupid bundles to their customers and not only do the costs rise, but the customers also get low QOS. Thankfully I live outside of the city/metro area out in the "sticks". I live on a quiet country road with neighbors as close as a 1/4 mile away and just recently the local cable co. (which will remain unnamed) updated its infrastructure to all FIBER and ran lines down my quiet country road. I am not locked into anything, I do watch TV so I have Basic service and I have 3Mbps x 3Mbps Internet service. I am using VoIP through Packet8 and I absolutely love it.

Verizon, at least in this area, does not yet provide the services seen in larger cities, therefore, the only bundles they have are for phone and DSL nothing else. FIOS is not available here yet so there is no bundle as mentioned in the article. Verizon just sucks anyway, especially around here cuz they know they have a stranglehold on the area and they know that we(the customers) can do nothing about it. Except for those of us with reliable cable connections that use Vonage, Packet8, etc.

You all can have the mainstream providers. I'll take the local folks any day of the week. I have not had any downtime since I signed up last August. If I do have a problem, a knowledgeable tech that speaks english (no hard-to-understand techs! :-) ) gets back to me within an hour and tells me what my problem is and also provides me with a resolution. On top of all this first-class customer service, the QOS and sheer speed is unbelievable!! Translation..... If you have the ability to switch to someone other than mainstream, DO IT!!! :-)
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Adam, 23 Mar 2006 @ 8:41am

Home town Cable Companies ROCK!!
I live in an area that is dominated by two lousy providers known as Verizon(telco) and Adelphia(cable). Adelphia offers these stupid bundles to their customers and not only do the costs rise, but the customers also get low QOS. Thankfully I live outside of the city/metro area out in the "sticks". I live on a quiet country road with neighbors as close as a 1/4 mile away and just recently the local cable co. (which will remain unnamed) updated its infrastructure to all FIBER and ran lines down my quiet country road. I am not locked into anything, I do watch TV so I have Basic service and I have 3Mbps x 3Mbps Internet service. I am using VoIP through Packet8 and I absolutely love it.

Verizon, at least in this area, does not yet provide the services seen in larger cities, therefore, the only bundles they have are for phone and DSL nothing else. FIOS is not available here yet so there is no bundle as mentioned in the article. Verizon just sucks anyway, especially around here cuz they know they have a stranglehold on the area and they know that we(the customers) can do nothing about it. Except for those of us with reliable cable connections that use Vonage, Packet8, etc.

You all can have the mainstream providers. I'll take the local folks any day of the week. I have not had any downtime since I signed up last August. If I do have a problem, a knowledgeable tech that speaks english (no hard-to-understand techs! :-) ) gets back to me within an hour and tells me what my problem is and also provides me with a resolution. On top of all this first-class customer service, the QOS and sheer speed is unbelievable!! Translation..... If you have the ability to switch to someone other than mainstream, DO IT!!! :-)
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Adam, 23 Mar 2006 @ 8:43am

double posted
oops sorry about that! This Verizon DSL I am currently on SUCKS!!
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Jeff from NJ, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:14am

I have a bundled deal (local, long distance, DSL) from Sprint. It's been very reliable, but it's also stupidly expensive. They are going to lose customers if they don't start offering price cuts.
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Tin Ear, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:18am

I prefer a simple connection...
A few years ago, I subscribed to a cable company's service in Montana. I had specifically told the company representative that I was interested ONLY in a data connection. The man came out and hooked me up. He tested my new cable connection and found that my signal was 'too hot', meaning 'too good' to me, and put a step-down splitter in line. Then he hooked my computer up and configured it to the system and I was up and running faster than I had ever done in the past. That evening after a major browsing of the internet, I retired to my easy chair and took a look at my television. Then I looked at the cable that came into the house right next to it. "Hmmm!". I got a piece of cable patch cord and hooked it to the tube. Wow! 12 channels, clear as a bell!! I then transferred the cable to the back of my VCR and Voila! 55 channels of TV, HBO included!!! All for less than $30 a month. I had a cell phone at the time that cost me a flat rate of $50/mo that had no connection with the cable company. I was really quite pleased with the arrangement. If I had gotten the 'bundle', I would have been paying about $125 in total. I think I got the better end of that deal.
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Mark, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:35am

Less for More $$$
Verizon tried bundling around here.

I pay ~$30 (with taxes, $25 without taxes) for local phone service.

Verizon keeps hounding me to signup for:

Local service+Bundled features+Long Distance=$30

So what your thinking your adding/getting "features" and a simple long distance plan for and extra "$5" a month in reality your getting billed for:

$25 Local service
$30 Features
$5 Long Distance
-------------------------
$60 a month bill

Cable/phone/whatever companys NEVER offer anything that ends up costing YOU LESS MONEY.
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Steve in NJ, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:48am

Better to stay away from bundled
I have Sprint and I got rid of there bundled servies. Why pay for a landline phone and a cell phone? Actually I am paying less in the long run by not bundling. The only thing I hate is I still have to pay $7.55 for just having a telephone line.

All bundling does is have you pay more for services you don't need or want. Why pay for something if your never going to use it? The new company Enbarq, the landline business that Sprint spun off, I hope will make some changes.
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- Maureen, 10 Jul 2006 @ 10:05am
  
  triple plays in nj and ny
  I'm reading all of these blogs about bundled service but no feedback from women. I guess men are really more interested in a triple play bundle than women. Interesting. Are any women interested in this bundle?? I live in Sprint territory and got their triple play offer -- it sucks. It would cost me more to bundle dsl, voice and my Dish network than leaving them all separate. duh.
  sounds like FIOS is the way to go when it's available in your neighborhood. Too bad I live so far out that it will be 2020 by the time I get it.
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alain in Paris France, 23 Mar 2006 @ 12:56pm

real triple play for less than 30$/month
That's what I get in France. High speed internet, cable-like tv and telephone.... Calling is even free as long it is not a cell phone, calling the US and many other countries is free too.... You also have couple nice things like a voicemail system that send you notification emails with the audio file attached!

I just love it!
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Dude, 10 Jul 2006 @ 10:00am

Bundled = Nope
Cox Internet.....$42.00 incl tax.
Vonage............$27.00 incl tax.
Netflix..............$18.00 incl tax.
Rabbit Ears........$12.00 incl tax.

Hey loook! It's a bundle package under $100!
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Katy, 17 Oct 2007 @ 9:16am

Verizon Triple Play
$119 for Verizon Fios, high speed internet and local/long distance.
Doesn't sound bad to me. (that includes taxes and fees)Considering when you add up by bills from DirecTV, AT&T, plus Verizon's DSL and local phone, I'm saving about $25 a month!
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- Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2007 @ 7:18pm
  
  Re: Verizon Triple Play
  How many boxes & DVR's do you have for that price. I was quoted on our triple play $138.00 plus taxes will be our bill. We have 1 DVR and 4 std boxes. They will not tell me what the taxes will be. Anybody have an idea?
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  - Steven, 2 Nov 2007 @ 4:16am
    
    Re: Re: Verizon Triple Play
    I've been wondering this exact same thing. How much are the taxes with verizon...
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colleen rayburn, 14 Nov 2007 @ 10:52pm

triple play from Verizon
what a mess...they gave me the movie channels for free the first three months..i didn't want them...they said well it will credit them off each month..didn't happen..they showed a credit but when i called in and had one of their people look at it..she said the credits are there but they arn't being deducted from the total. so she said i had a credit coming..didn't get it on my next bill..they initially told me $106.00 a month for all three..my bills have been over $2oo.oo each time like $260.00 this last month ..it is really maddening..i told them i didn't want the movie channels and now after the three month free they are still billing me for those channels that I didn't want in the first place..i am thinking of going back to charter, it can;t cost any MORE!!!!!!!
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Susan, 4 Jan 2008 @ 10:13am

Triple Play Woes
Cavalier is the worst for service and for taking on fees and taxes. I hate this company
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Ed, 7 Jan 2008 @ 4:46am

High speed do or dont?
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Ed, 7 Jan 2008 @ 5:00am

High speed do or dont?
1st off a lot of people here are comparing apples to oranges in their product and pricing. for those that dont really need much more than a tv ant. then this is not for them cheaper is old tv with ant. and basic phone with calling card, and dial up is better today than yesterday.
Those that need fios which hands down is the fastest speed internet out here today are the techs and graphics people either for pleasure (gamers) and work (such as photographers and video goers) and they can bundle up and get their phone and now tv from the same source, prices are competitive for you have more than 1 company handing out fiber optics service.
That being said My Phone bill is anywhere from 40 to 90 a month and basic digital cable with all hbo chanells is 90 a month and my interent is 33 a month so if you do the math it is cheaper to bundle, and all of these companies charge a lot for little and little for a lot more if you look at the costs/over the pkgs offered.
Verizon has just put fios in my neighborhod 95 a month gets me phone local and long distance, hd signal, 220 or 250 chanells basic, and real high speed internet, again this is the basic. What they give you is a wireless router, set top boxes, a battery backup with the fios box, a free 19" hdtv or $200 best buy gift card, and that is all inclided in the installation which is about 6 to 8 hrs with 1 or 2 guys doing the install.
Like they say "the art of the deal is in the negotiation"
and people today forget to negotiate or just plain forgot how to but i got a lot asking and pushing a lot to get where i want to.
Remember almost all of us have to pay taxes and we cant change that but we can change other things.
Something to think about !!!!
just my 2cents

Ed
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- Chuck, 7 Feb 2008 @ 12:31pm
  
  Re: High speed do or dont?
  What is it that you negotiated? It sounds like the offer as advertised.
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Marty, 16 Jan 2008 @ 10:06am

Comcast TriplePlay
I had no choice but go with Comcast in my area.

I had Dish, SBC Land Line, SBC DSL. I waited 2 years for SBC to enable DSL in my subdivision. And then I could only get 384 Mbps. Then my Dish TV stopped working because the trees had overgrown my only view to the Satellites. (I live in a heavly wooded area)

I had gotten flyers in the mail from Comcast saying they had Internet access in my area and I jumped on it. I dumped SBC (now AT&T) and Satellite and Got the TriplePlay.

I was paying around $70 for Land Line & DSL, no long distance calling, and $70 for Satellite for around $140 a month total.

I am paying around $150 a month for Comcast TriplePlay. With that I got two HD recievers and two SD recievers. Fast Internet Access and VOIP full service with more features than I had before such as long distance and caller ID.

So far I am happy with Comcast TriplePlay and $150 a month is good since there is no competition that can touch the cost in my area.

One Con to using Comcast: The support, if or when you need it. Luckly, I have only had to call once.
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JF, 9 Apr 2008 @ 9:46am

FIOS ripoff
We switched from Comcast who raised our rates three times in one year for just internet & cable and wanted to charge more to downgrade our cable service.

FIOS was advertised at $99 but my last two bills have been over $150!!!
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Verizon Fios, 14 Sep 2008 @ 12:06pm

High Expectations
There are high expectations with Verizon FiOS expanding at a rapid pace. The triple play offers the most value for the consumer. Package Deals.
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stupid losers, 20 Oct 2008 @ 8:29am

your all a bunch of fucking losers grow up.
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fuckfuck, 20 Oct 2008 @ 8:31am

wait wait waiw wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait waiw wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait waiw wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait waiw wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait waiw wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait waiw wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait
you all suck dick fucking losers, i think you should all just grow the hell up.
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