Double Plays, Triple Plays, and Quadruple Plays are not new concepts. Ever since service providers began offering more than one service the marketing departments have blitzed consumers with packaged services promising bill-saving deals. Comparing and contrasting every provider and every service can be an exhausting task, though in reality most consumers will have one or maybe two of the big cable companies to choose from, one of AT&T’s options if you’re lucky, and FiOS if you are really lucky.

Some words of advice: ask questions. This author entered into a bundled service deal with one of the major cable companies, only to be hit six months later with a bill that had me wondering if my car payments and cable bill got switched. Come to find out the initial rate was a six-month promotional one. Funny how this was never made clear to me.

Consumers will also want to know if there are any contractual obligations to stay a subscriber for a certain amount of time. When I adjusted my Double Play bundle with the aforementioned provider to drop one service but add another, my next bill featured a $150 cancellation fee for the dropped service. Unbeknownst to me, I was allegedly tied into a 2-year contract for that service. I fought it, and it turned out my handy visiting contractor never had me sign the contract when he came to install the new service. Lucky me.

Installation and equipment rental fees are also two frequently overlooked details. The process of hooking a home up to Verizon’s FiOS service, for example, can be somewhat invasive and elaborate. Find out how long installation will take, how much it will cost (free installation has been the norm for FiOS as it is still relatively new, but this may change as demand for service increases), and how much of the necessary equipment (modem, set-top boxes, etc.) comes with a monthly fee. Try haggling. If a provider is desperate for customers, they may allow some flexibility to their salespeople. You never know ‘til you try.

With regards to service, this will vary by provider. There is TV, phone (traditional landline or VoIP), internet, and wireless cell phone service. Some providers have deals with satellite companies like DirecTV and Dish Network and offer those TV services as part of a bundle. For each service there can be numerous tiers, which can affect the bottom line on that monthly bill, e.g. internet service is The beauty of the bundle is in the ability to mix and match services and their respective tiers to meet a household’s needs.

Disclaimer: The tables featured include rates taken either from a provider’s website or from a provider’s salesperson. Rates for any given provider may vary from state to state, and sometimes even within a state.

Comcast
These Comcast bundle rates were taken from their website, and apply as an online offer only. Comcast offers Digital Voice, Digital television, and a few different Internet speeds. (Internet speeds listed are download speeds). There website doesn’t do a great job of allowing customization, and detailed information on package specifics is fairly hard to come by. Still, their rates are reasonable, their Internet speeds are adequate, and their digital phone service is straightforward, including unlimited local and long distance. In a new promotion, Comcast is offerering a Nintendo Wii to new Triple Play customers who sign on for two years.

Bundle	TV			Internet			Phone	Cost
	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	768 Kbps	6 Mbps	8 Mbps
TV & Phone	X						X	$66
TV & Internet	X				X			$66
Starter	X				X		X	$99
Preferred Plus		X			X		X	$129
Premier			X		X		X	$159

Charter
Off all the service providers, Charter may have had the easiest website to use to customize one’s bundle. They take potential consumers along three easy steps – cable, Internet, and phone – and explain the different tiers for each service as well as the additional cost per month for selecting a better package. Costs per month below are promotional costs – the costs for the first three bundles are for the first 6 months, and the last bundle cost is for the first 12 months.

Bundles listed below include the “default” service tiers, i.e. the basic digital package for TV (100+ channels, On-Demand, etc.), the standard Internet service (5Mbps download speed), and an unlimited nationwide calling plan for the phone service. Upgrades for TV include a “Big” and “Biggest” tier, with the latter bring HBO, Starz, Music Channels, and a few other options. One can also add a DVR ($20/month) and HD ($18/month) or both ($28/month). The “Plus” Internet tier doubles the speed (10Mbps download) for a mere $5 more a month. Anyone should see the value in that upgrade.

For the “Cable, Internet, and Phone 2” bundle, we selected the Biggest TV package, added the DVR/HD combo option, and chose the “Plus” Internet speeds. We also added a Networking gateway option for the home to connect 5 computers (4 of them wirelessly) for $9.99/month. We skipped the phone upgrade option, which adds 450 worldwide minutes to the plan. Notice the increase in the bottom line. And that’s still only a 12-month promotional rate.

Bundle	TV			Internet		Phone	Cost
	Digital	Big	Biggest	Basic	Plus
Cable & Phone	X				X	X	$69.98
Cable & Internet	X			X			$69.98
Internet & Phone				X		X	$59.98
Cable, Internet & Phone	X			X		X	$99.97
Cable, Internet & Phone			X		X	X	$172.96