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The first triple-play (phone, data, and television) deployment was by Italian operator Fastweb in 2001, using fibre to the home service and one of the first triple-play home gateway devices with embedded fibre termination.
This home first got triple play in about 2004 for about $158 including taxes (basic cable, telephone, and 3 Mbps internet). At the time cellular was via Verizon for $30 per phone * 2 phones @ 200 minutes per month.
In 2017 this home still has triple play for $164 (basic cable, telephone, and 50 Mbps internet) plus DVR service but mobile service is under $30 for both cellular phones.
The next door neighbors are paying $42 for 25 Mbps internet + $25 for Sling Blue which can stream to three devices at once to keep their children happy. But they still have to pay for two cellular phones. My best guess is about $120 for their family.
But for a single person trying to keep it under $70, there is a lot of advantage to going to a single source for all your needs. Voice, texting, data, and video.
I spend more than $70/month but could get below that if I downgraded my internet speed which is 18, and cancelled my streaming services Netflix, Hulu, and CBS All-access. Two of them will be cancelled this month or next. Hulu will probably be kept.
Internet cost with a $15 monthly discount from AT&T U-verse: $60.51
Ooma Telo for my home phone, 5000 minutes/month (VOIP): $4.10
Tracfone for backup and when I'm away from home: $21.88 every 90 days ($7.29/month)
Total: $71.90/month
Netflix: $10.71
Hulu: $12.84
CBS All-Access: $9.99
Adds up to an additional $33.54 that I could easily live without, and usually do live without Netflix and CBS All-Access. Just happens to be a rare month I have two or more services.
So technically I could get below $70/month but don't want to go below an internet speed of 18 and I do like having Hulu for the convenience of watching current network tv shows commercial free, and for watching certain shows I didn't watch years ago when they first aired along with a Hulu Original series or two. Eventually I may even get rid of Hulu. So many channels on Roku, if I find some I enjoy enough after depleting old shows I've been watching on Hulu I could see myself cancelling that service. SNAG Films has some interesting content. And the one thing I starting watching on it didn't have the commercials I expected. I did not buy it commercial free (it's free otherwise) but it streamed without them anyway for some reason.
Netflix: $10.71| Hulu: $12.84 | CBS All-Access: $9.99
Those kind of streaming services are like going out for hamburgers. They are not required and you can skip them any given month and they won't cancel your account, but patiently wait for you to pay again.
Those kind of streaming services are like going out for hamburgers. They are not required and you can skip them any given month and they won't cancel your account, but patiently wait for you to pay again.
Yes, and that's part of why I like them. If I had to sign a contract for a year like I do with AT&T when I get a discount I definitely would only have one service, if that.
Totally eliminate everything except high speed internet and get everything for less than $40 a month.
My neighbor pays $42.50 a month for 25 Mbps internet only. But they still need cell phones and SlingTV. Assuming they have cut rate cell service that is $20 per cell phone, and SlingTV is $25 a month.
While I know that Google voice is free, you still have to pull into a fast food parking lot to get WiFi since you have no cell. You have to watch pirated signals for video, or go to individual websites and watch clips or the last few shows of television shows.
I think that is a bit extreme for most people unless you are swearing off video and communication.
For purposes of this thread, consider people who live alone.
Communication charges lump together cellular, wireline, internet, over the air broadcast and internet protocol television.
Can you keep monthly cost at $70 or less?
It is possible, because some internet services start at $30 a month, and figure $20-$30 for talk and text only on cellular, possibly a super low cost VOIP voice service at home, and $10 for Netflix augmented with over the air television and web based free programs.
AT&T introduced a program yesterday where you purchase cell phone with unlimited data (where AT&T has the right to throttle you at 22 GB of data if tower is overloaded), and after three months you get 60 commercial cable channels for an additional $10. Viewing on home Television would have to be over the air, or casting from your cell phone to the big television. I said we should consider people who live alone because normally two people could not share one cellular phone.
Is this new service going to be a game changer? Personally, I would be shocked if it doesn't attract a million subscribers in the next two years, but beyond that I am unsure.
No, I don't think it is going to be a game changer because it is a post paid solution, and consumers looking to save money are transitioning over to prepaid. No one has to subscribe to anything. I could keep my monthly costs at $70 or less if I stopped paying for Hulu and Netflix. Why would you want to get into a situation with AT&T where they're giving you additional programming AFTER doing business with them on a contract for 3 months. They will eventually want you to pay more for that content.
Watching television over the air works for some that are a few miles away from the antenna but is not a practical solution for most. Why would you put yourself in that situation when digital signals over the air are subject to the whims of the wind, birds flying in front of your home, someone walking down the street in front of your house, your neighbor running a vacuum cleaner or turning on a blender, etc. I can get programming from the networks for free. I may be a day late, but it is better than the antenna.
I'm also confused about your conditions for people that live alone, as opposed to households. If your desire to save money is that extreme you could do a TracFone and add minutes when you need them but rely on WiFi calling to talk to people while you are at home, or wherever WiFi is available. As long as the TracFone is active, you have service. Or you could go with one of those basement Sprint MVNOs like TextNow; get the $14 a month plan. Only enough minutes for emergencies IMHO but it is doable. It defaults to WiFi calling when it is available. They also have a free app for Android, so if you don't like Google Voice it is another option.
If you don't want to pay for Netflix there are other options, particularly for Android. Popcorn Flix, Tubi, Crackle, CBS, and Vudu are a few examples. I still think that people are considering this AT&T plan as a WiFi replacement and that may be possible if AT&T allows you to use it as a hotspot but 22 GB is nothing when the cable company does not throttle until 1 TB. There is no comparison. Not sure about Comcast and Time Warner but I have Cox and I never run into any issues streaming television. Now, if I introduce a second stream I might run into a situation where I can't stream HD on both screens but that is because I have their lowest plan. I don't mind SD. I only watch one stream at a time.
No, I don't think it is going to be a game changer because it is a post paid solution, and consumers looking to save money are transitioning over to prepaid.
The chief advantage of prepaid seems to me that you can skip a month or more without any dire consequences. If you don't need your phone or streaming service. They typically don't cancel the accounts for six months.
Quote:
Originally Posted by goofy328
Why would you want to get into a situation with AT&T where they're giving you additional programming AFTER doing business with them on a contract for 3 months. They will eventually want you to pay more for that content.
Good point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by goofy328
I'm also confused about your conditions for people that live alone, as opposed to households.
Traditional cable came to a house and you could add as many TV's as you wanted, and you could easily watch four different channels on four different televisions. Newer cable plans have surcharges for equipment for extra televisions.
Streaming plans usually have limitations on number of simultaneous streams. AT&T unlimited cellular with Direct TV NOW is essentially a plan for a single person and a single device. You can "cast" to different size monitors, but you are tied to a single device.
In early 1980 (pre CNN and MTV) a single person probably watched television via an antenna to get news and home entertainment, he could not afford a bulky analog phone and probably paid $25 for a home phone service with long distance calls. CableTV was still a bit of a novelty and primarily appealed to people who couldn't get broadcast signals. Commercial free cable like HBO was almost entirely movies, with only occasional documentary or sports show. In 2017 that is inflation adjusted to slightly over $70 .
Hence my question about keeping basic communications, news and entertainment for under $70.
I thought I was being fairly frugal, but when I added everything up just now, I see that I'm spending $88 a month. This does include keeping a basic landline connection without a long distance calling plan; I use my mobile phone for that.
The chief advantage of prepaid seems to me that you can skip a month or more without any dire consequences. If you don't need your phone or streaming service. They typically don't cancel the accounts for six months.
Good point.
Traditional cable came to a house and you could add as many TV's as you wanted, and you could easily watch four different channels on four different televisions. Newer cable plans have surcharges for equipment for extra televisions.
Streaming plans usually have limitations on number of simultaneous streams. AT&T unlimited cellular with Direct TV NOW is essentially a plan for a single person and a single device. You can "cast" to different size monitors, but you are tied to a single device.
In early 1980 (pre CNN and MTV) a single person probably watched television via an antenna to get news and home entertainment, he could not afford a bulky analog phone and probably paid $25 for a home phone service with long distance calls. CableTV was still a bit of a novelty and primarily appealed to people who couldn't get broadcast signals. Commercial free cable like HBO was almost entirely movies, with only occasional documentary or sports show. In 2017 that is inflation adjusted to slightly over $70 .
Hence my question about keeping basic communications, news and entertainment for under $70.
Prepaid is not about dodging the consequences of breaking a contract. Some individuals prefer prepaid because they are allowed to access the same services that other consumers (purchasing the same services) can access without having to take into account one's credit score. In the heyday of contracts, individuals had to pay as much as $300 or more upfront to get into a contract, and they were still expected to pay their first month. It was not uncommon to leave, owing $1,000 or more for services accessed. A lot of those individuals went to prepaid (with the exact same companies), rather than pay off what was owed. This is when cellular was still perceived as a luxury, and people still had fixed landline at home.
I continue to keep my prepaid service active, at all times. If I don't pay up front, I don't have service at all. The only post paid situation I have is for my internet that I get from the cable company. I already have to pay them $70 a month. I pay $50 a month for 8 GB of data, which is my cell phone. I was paying $60 for unlimited but when I realized that I wasn't consuming 22 GB (due to the fact of my home internet), I decided to drop down to 8 GB.
Streaming plans do have limitations on simultaneous streams. I have Netflix. One stream is $8 a month. Two is $10, and four is $12. With each increase is also an increase in the resolution. The $8 a month plan is standard definition, $10 plan high definition and $12 plan ultra high definition. I am on the $8 plan. The streams are standard definition, and if more than one person accesses my account they get an error message, but all I need is one stream, and standard definition is not a problem for me.
Hulu does not have these restrictions. It is either HD, or nothing at all. And accounts are for up to six profiles. The Live TV component of Hulu does have a restriction of 2 simultaneous streams. No different than Sling, Direct TV Now, YouTube, or PlayStation. But overall, Hulu is not as restrictive as Netflix.
With traditional cable you are thinking of coaxial cable directly to the set, which was a FCC mandate. But cable has always charged a box rental fee for each individual box. Another issue that existed with analog cable, is that the quality of the signal went down with each additional TV set you added into the mix. You needed amplifiers to get around this. In fact, you still need amplifiers, even with digital cable, if you have several sets connected in your home. Some of these issues are being worked around through internet technologies.
If you want HBO you can get it for $16 a month. But I'm still confused, if you are paying $30 a month for internet to your home why are you paying for AT&T's unlimited cell phone service? Cheapest AT&T offers unlimited is $60 a month through Cricket. Then you have $65 a month for GoPhone, and $90 for post paid. And all three of those plans have deprioritization at 22 GB, so while they are unlimited, you will eventually be slowed (even if it is temporary). I think you were referring to $60 a month for unlimited through Cricket, and then $10 for something like Netflix.
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This does include keeping a basic landline connection without a long distance calling plan; I use my mobile phone for that.
