Radio And Television Broadcasting Stations Internet Edition

When reached for comment, a Verizon spokesman confirmed that the company strategy was not to compete on price but to offer higher-quality service. He claimed that it was not a change in policy and that sales representatives did have some latitude to offer incentives to customers on a case-by-case basis.n most markets, cable companies were the first to provide bundles. Phone companies watched from the sidelines as customers gave up their landlines for the offerings of local cable companies, which included television and Internet service. Not happy to see their business drift away, phone companies expanded their choices, first by offering their version of high-speed online access (called DSL) and, later, adding TV to the mix.

Add to this high-definition TV options and different tiers of Internet speeds, and consumers can be left with a bewildering array of options, making the mere thought of deciding to change companies overwhelming. Is a fiber optic connection from Verizon, called FiOS, that much faster than a cable company’s offerings or a traditional phone company’s DSL? Can you receive all the high-definition channels you want in a cable bundle without sacrificing a decent Internet connection? Do you have to sign up for a landline with AT&T to receive their new, faster U-verse connection speeds?

“There’s no single or simple answer for the consumer,” said Doug Williams, analyst with JupiterResearch. “The bundles themselves are getting more complicated. It makes for a daunting task.”

But take heart. While making the switch can be complex, there are steps you can take to reduce the chance of a migraine.

First, establish your baseline, said David Tice, vice president at Knowledge Networks, a consulting firm based in Menlo Park, Calif. Add the amount you already pay for phone, television and Internet. Then figure out if you want extra services, like high-definition channels or faster Internet speeds.

For Andy Plesser, who runs the video blog Beet.tv in Manhattan, having the fastest Internet service was his top priority because of his upload and download needs. So when he learned that FiOS service would be available through Verizon, he did not even blink.

“Being among the first wave in Manhattan to have the service is bragging rights,” Mr. Plesser said.

FiOS is widely considered to have the fastest download speeds available and is being introduced in New York as the infrastructure is built. It provides download speeds of 50 megabits a second (the standard from Time Warner Cable, a local competitor, is 10 megabits a second), so downloading a 1.2-gigabyte or 90-minute standard movie would take about 3 minutes, according to Verizon. That is exactly the kind of speed that Mr. Plesser needs to make sure his blog works as fast as possible, so he signed on for Verizon’s bundle.

Consumers whose top priority is price may choose a different path. That is because most of these services, at least for ordinary users, are basically a commodity (cable and telephone companies would have you believe otherwise). Phone service is phone service — it is difficult to distinguish one provider from another. With Internet access, if you spend most of your time visiting Web sites and reading e-mail messages, any run-of-the-mill broadband service is likely to work for you.

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