[GiantsFan383]

I am most likely in the wrong forum for this question, forgive me if I am but why is bundling with cable so much cheaper than with satellite..ie phone,internet. In NJ, Directv and Dish only offer Verizon DSl which is horrible and verizon phone service which is ok. Satellite has got to be hurting with bundling vs cable. It would be almost 200 dollars if I got everything seperate.

 

[James Long]

It helps when one company owns the facilities and does not have to share the profits with their bundling partner.

Cable systems maintain a connection to your home for one of the three services. Once that connection is paid for adding TV programming is the cost of the programming plus markup, adding internet is the cost of their ISP connection plus markup, adding phone is the cost of their interchange with the ILEC's tandem plus markup.

Buy one of those services and you pay for the connection plus the service plus markup. Buy all three and they don't have to charge you three times for the same connection.


Satellite bundles rely on another company and a completely different connection for the internet and phone portions of the bundle.

 

[Nick]

I bundle internet, phone and full pkg tv with Comcast. My combined monthly runs $255.

It's Comcastic!

 

[tsmacro]

Yeah those cable bundles are great, right up to the time when they have a problem, like they did around here yesterday for about 8 hours. Apparently there was quite a crowd at the local cable office because people couldn't watch tv, get on the internet or make phone calls. Luckily for me I only have them for internet. I like the advantages of being unbundled and having different companies for all three services. Plus whenever I've looked into bundling it didn't really seem I'd be saving any real money. Sure I'd get a discount off my overall bill for doing the bundle but when I totaled up what I was paying separately compared to the bundle bill it always pretty close to the same and as a result why would I bother?

 

[MCHuf]

Yeah those cable bundles are great, right up to the time when they have a problem, like they did around here yesterday for about 8 hours. Apparently there was quite a crowd at the local cable office because people couldn't watch tv, get on the internet or make phone calls. Luckily for me I only have them for internet. I like the advantages of being unbundled and having different companies for all three services. Plus whenever I've looked into bundling it didn't really seem I'd be saving any real money. Sure I'd get a discount off my overall bill for doing the bundle but when I totaled up what I was paying separately compared to the bundle bill it always pretty close to the same and as a result why would I bother?

Yes, I'm glad I don't bundle because of things like that. I have Dish for tv and cable for internet and phone. When the line is down from the cableco, I still have TV and when the satellite (which isn't as often as many people believe) has problems, I still have internet and phone. Sure I pay a little more, but it's only a $3 difference to a comparable package from my cabelco (I have AT200 + [email protected]) because I would have to go back to Netflix for bd/dvd's by mail (an extra $10).

 

[Yoda-DBSguy]

I tend to shack my head at "bundled" packages in terms of them saving money.

Having all your eggs in one basket (as in the case with cable or phone companies) puts one at riisk for loosing everything during a outage. Comcast, Charter and Time Warner all have periodic outages as you can see reported thoughout the country from time to time.

In terms of montly savings go, you can still get lower prices by simply shopping around for the services you want for tv and internet and simply go with a VoIp provider like Ooma, magic jack or vonage as the phone provider.

I choose DirecTV as my TV provider, Comcast as my ISP and Ooma for telephone service and have been pleased as punch for many years. Having a ZERO monthly bill for phone service can't be beat no matter what your local telco or cable company offers as a bundle deal insentive!

Also keep in mind you can still bundle your services for those that have say internet and cell service with AT&T while still choosing a VoIp provider for your home or work telephone service and still selecting a seperate TV provider.