Bundles of convenience, at what price?

People who don't enjoy paying their bills at the end of the month could be in for a little relief - but it might cost them.

For the past six months, several companies across the country have begun heavily promoting "bundled" services of video, voice, and data. Cable companies including Comcast, Cox, and RCN are offering cable TV, high-speed Internet service, along with local and long-distance telephone service.

Telecommunications companies including SBC and Verizon are marketing their standard local and long- distance telephone service combined with high-speed Internet service, cellular telephone service, and even some satellite TV packages.

Some of these companies promise to consolidate all of these fees onto a single statement. The feature's simplicity comes as a timely boon for consumers overwhelmed by the multiplication of new services for the home.

"Convenience is probably the biggest issue for consumers," says Michael Goodman, a senior analyst with the Yankee Group, a Boston market-research firm. "A third of all households are very interested in having a single provider."

Several bundled deals offer price savings. But over the long term, experts say, consumers likely will pay more for the ability to pay less often.

"You'll see introductory offers," says Mr. Goodman. "But [these companies] don't want to get into the position where they are undercutting their old prices."

Several times over the past decade, companies have promoted bundles only to withdraw them soon after because of a lack of consumer interest.

But advances in digital technology have allowed certain products, including high-speed Internet and cellphone service, to become more marketable than they were five years ago. So there's now more to bundle.

But the main force behind the bundling trend is competition. Regional "baby Bell" companies are offering long-distance service, and long-distance providers are offering local service - both in an effort to draw away each other's customers. Cable companies are bundling in their battle with satellite TV providers. And both telephone and cable companies are competing against each other for high-speed Internet customers.

By combining all these services onto one bill, the companies hope to persuade customers to forget - or switch from - their competitors.

The effort also builds consumer loyalty. For example, the percentage of subscribers to Cox's cable service who cancel their service each year is 53 percent lower among those who also subscribe to the company's high-speed Internet and telephone service.

"Bundles help prevent core customers from defecting because they become accustomed to paying one provider," says Mark Kersey, a senior analyst with ARS, a market-research firm in La Jolla, Calif.

Whether people should bundle their bills depends on several variables. One is availability. Because companies have developed services such as long-distance and high-speed Internet only in certain parts of the country, bundling isn't always an option.

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