Verizon discounts its TV bundle to compete with cable
November 4th, 2008, 11:10 am · 10 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
** Correction in Verizon upload speeds below **
Citing “the economy” and using words like “take a hit” and “anxiety,” Verizon lowered the prices on its bundle of Internet, TV and voice services.
This isn’t, however, news of a better deal on the much-sought-after-but hard-to-find FiOS TV service, which is available in limited areas of Orange County. This is the retro Verizon package, where Internet is DSL and TV comes from a partnership with DIRECTV. Prices start at $79.99 per month. By ordering the package deal, Verizon says customers will save $15 to $35 per month.
What is new is that Verizon now offers Internet download speeds up to 7.1 Mbps (upload speeds are up to 3 Mbps 768 kbps – I misread this. Thanks Kevin). To get this speed, you’ll end up paying at least $110 per month. The price goes up if you opt for more premium TV channels. You can create your own bundled plans at www.verizon.com/bundles.
Marketing ploy or not, the new prices on bundled services is one way Verizon hopes to attract disgruntled cable TV customers who don’t live in FiOS territory. In the press release, the company mentions that this is a “better value, compared with choices from competitors,” and then goes on to later mention that it outranked the average cable provider’s score in reliability, choice and costs.
But is Verizon cheaper? I just took price information from Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications web sites and created bundles similar to what Verizon offers. Here are the results:
| Bundled discounts | Verizon | Time Warner | Cox |
|---|---|---|---|
| TV | 200 digital channels,
DVR, ShowTime |
200 channels,
Showtime ( $15), DVR ( $16.50) |
200 channels,
HD DVR, no Showtime |
| Internet | 7.1 Mbps | 6 Mbps | 12 Mbps |
| Phone | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimted |
| Price per month | $109.99 | $130.50 | $142.52 |
So, yes, Verizon is cheaper. But you will have to committ to 12 months of service. Details of Verizon’s new plans are at www.verizon.com/bundles.
More stories on TV services in O.C.:
- Western Digital offers way to watch PC’s HD movies on TV
- Time Warner’s new HD channels and why Costa Mesa, Tustin get them first
- FiOS TV still growing, reaches 2.2 million customers
- Time Warner Cable’s new features finally coming to O.C.
- Cox Cable adding… mobile phone service?
- 30 new HD channels for AT&T U-verse
- AT&T’s U-verse TV service still targeting Irvine
- AT&T’s U-Verse TV has less than 1 million users
- How to get cheaper cable TV in O.C., part 2
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Gadgetress, upload speeds aren’t up to 3 Mbps for Verizon High Speed Internet – 768Kbps is maximum upload speed.
On November 11-13, TelcoTV 2008 Expo and Conference will be at the Anaheim Convention Center. The event will feature senior executive keynote speakers from Verizon, At&t, Fox and others. One of the events on 11/12 at 1:00PM in Room 207A is entitled “Is IPTV Ready For The Prime Time Consumer” The PayTV consumer survey is being presented by Heavy Reading. It will examine the latest trends from pricing to offerings and features and how all PayTV may, or may not be effective by the economic downturn.
WARNING – as someone who had Verizon Fios (TV/Internet/Phone), all I can say is DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO VERIZON!!! The service was very unreliable—including the home phone—and once Verizon switches you from copper wire to Fios, they will NOT switch you back, no matter what!! Long story short, I got tired of their spotty service and refused to pay my bill until they switched my phone back to copper, which they lied repeatedly and said they would but didn’t, so they sent my account to collection. I will rot in hell before I pay those liars at Verizon one cent! I know cable sucks, but I have learned it is 100% better than anything Verizon has to offer.
Yikes Jan! You’re the first FiOS customer I’ve heard from who wasn’t a fan. Anyone else out there?
And Kevin, btw, thanks. See corrections above. – Gadgetress
FIOS is tooooooooooooo expensive!!!! I’ve had it for approx. 8 months. Each TV has to have its own box,at a premium, to get any connection. The phone is toooo expensive. The service is not that good. The internet is suppposed to be much faster than Time Warner, but it doesn’t seem to be much faster than the Time Warner connection I had before changing. I’m going back to Time Warner in January unless I find a better deal somewhere else sooner. Verizon also did not honor a $100 promotion that i was offered when i signed up. Currently I pay $215 a month for the three services, I know I can do better than this.
Two and counting, Gadgetress. And I bet there are a lot more out there. In my opinion, Verizon has gotten too big for their own good. I have never experienced such lies and apathy from a customer service department!
DON’T PAY FOR THE SH@T FROM VERIZON!
YOU CAN GET 100% FREE HDTV FOR LIFE!
I GET CHANNEL 28.4 WITH 24 HOURS DOCUMENTARY FREE FROM COMMERICIAL JUNK!
TRY TO GET THAT CHANNEL FROM VERIZON OR TIME WARNER!
I’m with Jan! I have not been happy with Verizon’s service. Or their wireless service for that matter! I also pay around 170-180 a month for the bundle. Not worth it for the money. Internet and TV suck.
this is BS i pay 90 bucks for all three from TW with DVR and HD plus the turbo charge internet ..you just got to make deals with them thats all
just had Fios installed and it has been spotty at best. There customer service sucks, was on the phone with them for a problem i had with a cable box. They said they would send me a new one, one month later it never came. Verizon told me that they tried calling, but i didnt anser. What BS, i checked my call logs, and checked with my cell phone subscriber and they never called once.
Their billing statement is too confusing too. Didnt undertand it at first glance, but found a lot of hidden charges that werent supposed to be there, since i signed up through a promotion.
if i could go back, i would switch to cable, but i dont want to pay their disconnect fee of ~200 bucks.