Home Phone, Broaband Internet, and Digital TV - Should I Bundle or Buy Separately

Bundling services is popular in home entertainment and communications today. This trend started with cable companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter and Cox and moved to national phone carriers who now offer TV and broadband in select areas on top of traditional phone service. Is it better to purchase a bundle (for your television, internet and phone) or is it cheaper to get each one individually? This article will compare and contrast the digital products that the leading companies provide their customers with and find out who offers the best deal.

It's hard to turn all your home digital needs over to a single company. Call it jaded consumer distrust, but it makes us uncomfortable. Can they instantly increase the price and I'll be stuck with I contract I am unable to get out of? Do I have to sign a contract to pay for their equipment or pay fees if I switch providers? These are all normal concerns when you are shopping around for digital home services. Why don't we review each of the points separately beginning with the issue about what actually takes place once the discount offer is no longer available. The level of competition is so cut throat between these companies rates are seldom raised. In fact, the drive to keep customers is so great that even when promos or special deals end, very often existing customers can extend their offer or move to a new promotion. It just might take a simple phone call from you to get the latest deal. Some cable companies, like Charter Communications, are currently giving users the chance to lock in rates for as long as two years if they agree to take a complete package deal. As far as your equipment responsibilities, each service provider determines their own policies. You will usually get a digital receiver and a modem from you provider. It is likely you might have a digital video recorder (DVR) as well if you ordered a top tier digital TV package.  Usually, companies will not charge you surprise fees for using their equipment. You might have to pay a tiny monthly fee for more digital receivers or a monthly rental fee for a broadband modem if you do not buy one yourself. Call the companies in your service region to learn their precise hardware guidelines. When you move or change service providers, it is your responsibility to return any hardware to the local provider's office. Assuming the equipment is not lost or damaged, you probably will not have to pay anything additional. This is why I don't see any reason for consumers to not take advantage of a bundle offer over any apprehension about the equipment provided by the company. Every digital provider has essentially the same policies about hardware costs and how to return them. These rules don't change not matter how many services you purchase.

Now we can take a closer look at exactly what kind of bundle packages you can currently purchase. Satellite experienced a large resurgence in the nineties when they introduced compact dish's which could be setup on the side of a house and offered all digital channels that were a lot more clear than the signal offered by cable. Besides generally speaking being less expensive, until the last few years satellite TV offered a greater variety of channels than cable did. But innovation in the satellite industry has been fear and far between over the past decade. Dish and DirecTV are having trouble competing because they've pushed satellite technology as far as they can. Even though television prices are still very competitive, satellite has a poor Internet option that's only useful to homes in very rural areas and no phone service option. Recently, national telecommunications companies like AT&T, Qwest, and Verizon are now offering digital TV, high-speed Internet, home, and mobile phone deals. They can now do this through a slowly growing fiber-optic network available in metropolitan areas and by partnering with satellite and broadband providers to cover the TV and Internet portions of the package. Although it's got the price point and quality, right now I am not suggesting customers go with a telco business for all 3 digital services. You are really just getting a repackaged product in most areas where fiber optic networks aren't accessible. If one of the businesses involved with the telco decides to bail on the contract then you have a lot of problems to face.

So where am I suggesting consumers spend their home entertainment and communications dollar? Currently I am a huge fan of the bundle options that are offered by many of the large cable companies. Current cable providers deliver a total HD and digital programming lineup which matches and often tops what is provided by DirectTV and Dish. Plus, you can get great add-ons like DVR boxes and on demand service that satellite is only beginning to deliver. Cable is currently superior because you're getting digital cable TV, broadband internet and digital phone from one source that will support you in all three services. However, for those who are just in the market for television service it might pay to consider satellite or teco because the competition is higher. With bundled services though, you can't beat the savings you get from the cable industry. I suggest using my article as a guide and comparing the features each provider offers for yourself. Use this information to locate the best value in TV, broadband internet, and telephone bargains available to you.

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