What is Bundled Services and is it right for me?

Bundling is when a provider (i.e. your ISP or phone company) offers two or more services to you under one bill and one provider. Typically, bundled Internet packages include at least two of the following services:

• Internet Access
• Telephone (Voice over IP)
• Television (cable or satellite service)
• Wireless or Cell Phone (Internet or data plan)

The main advantage of bundling is in billing convenience, where one bill covers two or more of your services. However, you can easily achieve the same convenience by simply transferring all of the billing for your services to one credit card.

When bundling multiple services, the standard subscription fees charged by a service provider is often discounted. However in most cases, the cost of bundled service plans is actually higher than you would normally pay for separate subscriptions with different service providers. In addition, bundled services usually have limited plan options, may require commitments with termination fees for each bundled service, include features you might not really need, and can be very inconvenient if you need to make any changes to one or more of the bundled services.

Before you agree to bundled services, be sure to take the time to find out if you really will save money and if you need all of the services offered in a bundled package. Sometimes it is more practical and cost effective to choose individual services that better meet your specific needs.