U S West bundles up

As it strives to add long-distance to its service mix, U S West makes its best offer yet. The RBOC last week unveiled U S West Total Package, a bundle of telephone, wireless and Internet service.

For $79.95 per month, Total Package includes home telephone service with features such as caller ID, three-way calling and call waiting; U S West Wireless service, including 300 weekday minutes, 1000 weekend minutes and free domestic long-distance calling; and unlimited access to U S West.net Internet service.

But the true benefits of this package are the accompanying integrated features, said Kevin Crull, vice president and general manager of the consumer services group at U S West.

The carrier's One Number service, for example, links a customer's home and cellular phones, routing all calls to the cell phone first when it is activated and turning the cell phone into a second home line when a customer is online, Crull said. "Feature integration is solving a lot of problems for customers. You make the package sticky to the customer."

The bundle also lets customers use their wireless minutes to call long-distance. "You're already paying for it in your price plan," Crull said.

U S West has the right ingredients, said Amanda McCarthy, an analyst with Forrester Research, but should strive for customized packages. A customer who doesn't go online much might want only 12 hours of Internet and more calling minutes, for example.

"It's time to move beyond enhanced services bundles and onto something else," McCarthy said. "This is really reaching for a lot more choice."