Providers offer bundling as service de jour

In their own ways, three different providers demonstrated this week that service bundling is becoming serious business. Verizon expanded its Verizon Freedom unlimited calling bundle into Delaware, AT&T is combining home and wireless calling and US LEC is offering pre-packaged bundles with its channelized T1 services.

These new bundled offerings also have something else in common: flat rate pricing.

After meeting with success in its initial launch, Verizon said this week it will begin offering its unlimited, all-distance calling plan in Delaware. The plan includes unlimited direct-dialed local, regional and long-distance service plus call management features such as voice mail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, three-way calling and limited speed dialing for $54.95.

Calling bundling one of the most important trends in the industry today, telecom analyst Jeff Kagan said in a statement that the future is not about simple bundles but also about unlimited minutes for a flat fee. Verizon’s plan extends their flat fee bundle to include direct dial calls to anywhere in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Verizon customer using the Freedom plan can get DSL service for $5 under the going rate of $34.95. A recently revamped Verizon bill will include line items for each service, but no call detail.

AT&T launched a new calling plan this week called AT&T One. It combines home telephone and wireless service in the same plan. AT&T One is not quite as simple as the Verizon plan, but does offer unlimited night and weekend calling on either phone. It also includes local service where available, weekday daytime long-distance calling from home at seven cents per minute, and nationwide wireless long-distance without roaming charges while in the home service area.

AT&T’s plan is introductory and has been rolled out in San Diego and Tampa. Customers get a 60-day window for no-risk cancellation. Pricing ranges from $36.99 to $98.49.

US LEC, the super-regional carrier based in Charlotte, NC, this week began offering bundles of customizable but integrated voice, data and Internet products called Advantage Power T. The new suite of services provides channel-by-channel selection of flat-rate services on customers’ T1 facilities. Customers now can buy bundles called Power Paks that combine voice, video and data along with long-distance, Web hosting and audio conferencing.