1. Consolidation is important. Packages combine Internet service, cable television, and phone service from a non-married provider and can be a better business than buying each service separately. Telecom corporations adore them because they generate consistent profits from visitors and block users on long-term contracts, regularly one to two years.
2. But not all packages are bargains. Additional fees may temporarily turn a reasonable package into a not-so-good offer. For example, Time Warner Cable recently announced virtual cable television with more than two hundred channels (HD included) and 10 megabit fast broadband Internet clocked for $75 per month, with loose installation. What the ad doesn’t say, however, is that recording in HD with an HD DVR would charge $18 more per month, and a wireless router (if you didn’t already have one) would charge $5 more per month. Earn a few more dollars a month in taxes and fees, and this $75 offer can increase to $100 per month.
3. Assess the competition. The more providers serve your area, the more incentives they offer you to connect. In addition, many providers point to their most productive offers for the web. For example, Verizon recently received a $20-a-month reduction to consumers who applied for their FiOS Triple Play plan online. ATT distributed prepaid Visa cards worth up to $350 to residential consumers who purchased U-verse TV or the Internet on their website. And Comcast, through its Xfinity brand, will be offered $200 Visa cards to new users of its Triple Play package.
4. Don’t be afraid to haggle. When your contract ends and it’s time to renew it, tell your provider that you need the special offer of be that is advertised only to new consumers, and threaten to give up if you don’t get it. In January, a Kiplinger publisher reduced his cable bill by nearly $23 a month by calling the company and declaring that he was resigning because his monthly bill was too high.
5. You can move to the map. Maybe I don’t need a landline. So, a triple play package doesn’t make sense to you. Or according to maybe I wouldn’t pay for two hundred cable channels you don’t watch. Choose a wireless phone service and a high-speed Internet provider, then request an online video service to watch videos and TV screens. For $9 a month, Netflix will stream an unlimited amount of videos and TV screens directly to your TV or PC over your home wireless network. Or think of Amazon, Best Buy, Vudu and others that allow you to hire individual videos for $1 to $6 according to name (see Net Movie Night).
6. Your smartphone has smarter. Sprint is the first wireless service provider to launch a fourth-generation, or 4G, knowledge service in the U.S. (AT-T and Verizon Wireless will remain in 2011). With download speeds of up to 6 Mbps, Sprint 4G WiMax’s rivals host broadband Internet. Sprint consumers who own an HTC Evo 4G smartphone ($200; the price of the service is $80 consistent with the month with a two-year contract) can use the device as an access point to connect up to 8 wireless devices, such as a computer and an iPod Touch. as long as they are willing to pay an additional $30 per month. Such a 4G service can offer an affordable option for the slower DSL, which reaches a maximum of approximately 3 Mbps.
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