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« Hey, Neighbor... | Main | Ballroom Update » February 18, 2008All Tangled UpI took some time today to review what all I pay currently for land-line telephone service, satellite television and high-speed Internet service, in order to compare it to bundled packages available from competitors such as Comcast, and in addition to realizing I'm way overpaying, I found something else rather interesting. Last month, we used our AT&T long distance service - for which we pay $23.99 per month as part of a bundled package - to make a total of just 12 minutes of long-distance calls. That works out to $2 per minute. We generally use our cellphones for long-distance calls. In fact, I rarely use the land-line phone at all anymore, even if I'm sitting at my desk in my home office, a mere 18 inches from the phone, I generally pull out the cell phone. I'm thinking it's time to ditch the land-line phone entirely, though that will make the price of my BellSouth DSL and DirecTV go up as they won't be part of a bundled service anymore. But the bundle-based discounts on those total just $19.95 per month. And our total local/long distance land-line service with AT&T costs $50.99 per month (not including taxes.) There's also a $5.11 "Tennessee Satellite Privilege Tax" that I never realized existed until today. (Is there a corresponding cable tax?) Perhaps Comcast for TV and Internet is the way to go. They currently have an Internet/Cable bundle that's $59.99 a month for the first 12 months, rising to $95.45 per month after that. It would still be cheaper than what we're paying now. And we could keep our old landline phone number by simply paying $10 a month to add it as a third number on our cell phone account. We never use all our minutes, and routinely have a few thousand "rollover" minutes. Anybody out there have any advice? Update A reader suggested the Verizon FIOS service - TV, Internet, phone and wireless - as a good alternative, but it isn't available where I live. I'm coinsider a Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) option - Lingo - which would be a low-cost alternative to AT&T, and going with Comcast for TV and 'net. Posted in Technology
Comments
I would go with comcast simply for the internet service. Posted by: Ryan Turbeville at February 18, 2008 5:22 PMI would say go with whatever plan fits your telecommunications use the best and for the lowest price. In our case, we have the Verizon FIOS bundle for TV, Internet, and phone as my wife uses the landline a lot. We don't really need the TV package, but my wife wants it (though we hardly watch). As far as cell phones are concerned, we only use them for emergencies, so each of us has "prepaid" from T-Mobile. We use less than 100 minutes per year and can keep our number going for $10/year. If you use less than 4,000 minutes per year (around 75 minutes per week), prepaid may be the way to go. I imagine you would discover all kinds of taxes on your cell phone plan, too! Posted by: Ron at February 18, 2008 5:43 PMI see your update about VOIP. Make sure that if you need to call 911 that emergency services can find you, and that your phone service will work if the power goes out. You might want to poke around to make sure that Lingo (or whomever you choose) has a decent reputation for service. Posted by: Ron at February 18, 2008 8:51 PMBill, that experience is all too familiar. We just today received our new Vonage device after going over our $40 "basic" AT&T landline bill. We've used Vonage in the past and it works very well paired with a cable modem. Posted by: Allen Fuller at February 18, 2008 9:56 PMAsk yourself a few questions before switching to a cable company for phone service: Bill, this (telecom) is my actual area of expertise. No other company has (or, to my knowledge, is planning to have) rollover for unused minutes. We use comcast at home, works well, seldom out or slow. Security would be the only reason I'd keep a landline phone - good to have 2 service choices if needed - though you're likely to have little downtime with a cell. You should be able to get a pretty inexpensive basic LL service, if you want to. Posted by: Whitehorse at February 19, 2008 10:53 AMWell I am using Comcast and as I actually use the connection quite a lot I need the higher speeds. DSL won't cut it for us. And sadly there is no option, so Comcast has a virtual monopoly. I hate it. I hate Comcast with a passion at this point, but feel quite stuck. I will be first in line for the FiOS train if it ever comes to town. Why do the Netherlands, Japan, and other countries have 30 to 50 times the data rates we get? We pioneered this stuff. And in the 90's we passed legislation deregulating telcos and giving them massive tax relief on the promise they would upgrade our infrastructure. Only infrastructure they've been upgrading is the lining in their pockets. (bad word here) I would love to see some competition. I had been hoping for FiOS but it's installation rate across the country is dismally slow and quite selective. WiMAX has some promise with long-range high speed wireless, but there are no players I am aware of making any real significant progress. If I had the means I'd try to start a business of my own in the WiMAX space. It is a great opportunity. Why do we "free market" loving people tolerate these de-facto monopolies? They are the worst form of capitalism; practically indistinguishable from the end results of communism: centralized control in the hands of the few, followed by utter contemptable corruption and abuse of power (be it price gouging or what have you). "I'm Mad as Hell and I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore!!!". God I wish I had some reasonable competition in this field. I would SO vote with my dollars. Grrrr... Tim Post a comment
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