Verizon bundles for budgets

Verizon Communications has joined the industry trend of pricing for the downturn, offering $10 to $30 off per month for the first three months of a 12-month triple play or double-play service involving its voice, DSL and DirecTV offerings.

Unlike Qwest, which offered across-the-board savings for a year, and AT&T, which offered 12-month discounts to customers who called in to trim their services, Verizon is offering a three-month discount. Verizon earlier announced that new FiOS customers can get six months free use of a high-definition digital video recorder.

There is no change at the lowest tier of service, where consumers can still get a triple-play bundle with DirecTV service, Internet access at download speeds up to 1 Mb/s and voice service for $79.99 or a double play voice-and-data service with download speeds of up to 3 Mb/s for $49.00.

But Verizon is taking $20 off in each of the first three months of its two upper tier triple-play services and $10 off in each of the first three months of its two upper tier double-play services for new customers who order by Feb. 21.

That means consumers save $60 a year for a triple-play bundle with DirecTV Plus, which includes a DVR and 200 channels, Internet access at up to 3 Mb/s and voice service. That package costs $99.99 a year but will be reduced by $20 in each of the first three months. The highest tier upgrades the video and DVR to high definition, and consumers can save $30 in each of the first three months.

The double-play bundles are being offering with $10-a-month savings in each of the first three months and are priced based on Internet speeds -- $59.99 for up to 3 Mb/s and $69.99 for up to 7 Mb/s, before the three-month discounts.