AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS have caused a price decline of almost 20% in broadband/pay-TV/phone services, according to Consumer Reports. Some bundles of the three services are as low as $80 a month.
The research showed that bundling is better for residences that use all three services. Of course, what has been happening for several years, which the economic downturn has accelerated, is folks canceling their wireline phone service and instead using mobile phones and Internet telephony such as Vonage, Skype and MagicJack.
Unconfirmed reports are that many people are canceling the pricier parts of their pay-TV service and using free Internet Web sites like Hulu.com and Joost or even pay services like Netflix and Apple iTunes. For $8.95 a month Netflix offers an unlimited number of DVD rentals and unlimited streaming of many but not all movies and TV shows. The Netflix and iTunes services require a separate box which attaches to the TV to watch the shows on the TV set instead of only on the PC. Users of Apple’s iTunes can rent or buy but cannot get a monthly subscription.
Consumer Reports cautions consumers about getting a faster broadband service than they need. It recommends that consumers get a service with 5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up unless they’re downloading or uploading lots of videos.
In addition to checking the service providers’ web site, it also recommends checking sites such as WhiteFence.com to help compare rates for services side by side. It also recommends that the consumer ask the service provider’s telephone representative for better prices.