# New Deal Enables DIRECTV and CenturyLink to Offer Service Bundles in 33 States



## skyboysea (Nov 1, 2002)

This is a few days old but I have not seen it posted. Centurylink was selling Dish until last month.



> MONROE, La., - DIRECTV, the world's most popular video service, and CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL), a leading provider of high-quality broadband, entertainment and voice services, have reached an agreement to sell DIRECTV as part of CenturyLink's residential service bundles. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
> 
> The fourth largest telecommunications company in the U. S., CenturyLink, began Aug. 1 marketing and selling the DIRECTV service bundle to CenturyLink's residential customers throughout its 33-state service area. The service bundles will include discounts for video, home phone and high-speed broadband service.
> 
> "Our relationship with DIRECTV allows CenturyLink to continue to provide the majority of our residential customers throughout our 33-state footprint with a strong combination of voice, internet and television services," said Shirish Lal, CenturyLink's senior vice president of marketing.


http://news.centurylink.com/index.php?s=43&item=57


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## Tom Servo (Mar 7, 2007)

So what happens if someone is already a DirecTV customer and moves to an area served by CenturyLink?


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## narcolept (Mar 1, 2007)

I'd imagine the same thing that happens if someone is already a DirecTV customer and moves to an area serviced by Verizon, AT&T, or any of the other companies that bundle DirecTV with their offerings.


Nothing, unless you want to bundle the services together.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

CenturyLink, formerly Century Tel, has a big footprint in La Crosse. Beyond being the local telephone provider, they have a major call center/business office downtown, providing service for a wide region. I have a buddy who has been implementing their HDTV distribution in this area. I'll have to call him today and get his perspective. I'll let you know.

Unfortunately, I'm outside their coverage area. I'd love to see if I could get this bundled. Right now I'm paying four separate service providers for cable Internet, land line telephone, cellular telephone and TV. I'm getting (_use your imagination here_).


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## ronsanjim (Mar 19, 2008)

Not really new as CenturyLink has been offering their D* "bundle" for several months now, here in Arkansas. Their customer service is terrible, and their advertising borders on deceptive to say the least. This is one utility I look forward to dropping, but I still need them for the Internet.


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## Dazed & Confused (Jun 13, 2007)

I have CenturyLink home phone only, and was unimpressed with their service the only time I've needed them. Phone support was OK, but it took way to long to get a dead phone fixed.

They are a combination of the old Century Tel & Sprint via Embarq. Your experience with any of those names will probably give you an idea what to expect.


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## Tom Servo (Mar 7, 2007)

I was just wondering because if the house ever sells, I will likely be relocating to an area that is served by CenturyLink. Their website is a joke and the "build a bundle" feature hasn't worked in months. It doesn't look promising but I need to save money wherever possible, so the bundling thing might be necessary.


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## George_T (Sep 19, 2002)

Funny, but my experiences w/Century Link have been the opposite; they have been excellent with me. 

I have both home phone and internet w/them. Their tech support has helped me on several occasions with internet issues and they have been very patient and professional. MUCH better than Sprint/Embarq when they were here in the Tri-Cities TN area. Hopefully I will be able to bundle my D* account w/the rest and save a few more dollars.


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## pakcyclist (Aug 14, 2009)

So, what about those of us who currently have CenturyLink for phone and DTV? Can we combine the two now, and save a few bucks? (Now, if only they would get broadband in my neck of the woods . . . )


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## narcolept (Mar 1, 2007)

It's my experience that you can, although if calling D* about it, you may want to call into retention to ask about bundles.

From what I've seen, regular CSRs don't know much about what's available for bundles, retentions or the phone service provider is the way to go..


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## codespy (Mar 30, 2006)

I suppose I would lose my grandfathered free DVR service if I bundled.

Guess I will have to call and find out.


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## Sim-X (Sep 24, 2009)

We use to have CenturyLink at my work (was embarq at the time)
The fastest we could get was 1.5 down which is absolutely pitiful. Soon as comcast got put in our building we jumped on and never looked back. DSL sucks compare to cable. Sure they make some faster DSL but I have friends who have Qwest DSL and they modem they give them is it's own router so when you plug in another router it is harder to configure port forwarding. It's just a pain, yes it can be done but Cable Modem is so much easier.


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## lsbrodsky (Dec 3, 2005)

I have Century Link for phone and DSL. I talked with a helpful CSR yesterday and was told that the DTV bundles are only available for NEW DTV customers; it will not process through DTV if you are an existing customer. I was also told that Century Link does not combine the billing, you just, separately, become a DTV customer with DTV billing and customer service. I asked how long I had to be a non-DTV customer if I was currently a customer and was told 6 months. So much for the triple bundle option.
Larry


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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

lsbrodsky said:


> I have Century Link for phone and DSL. I talked with a helpful CSR yesterday and was told that the DTV bundles are only available for NEW DTV customers; it will not process through DTV if you are an existing customer. I was also told that Century Link does not combine the billing, you just, separately, become a DTV customer with DTV billing and customer service. I asked how long I had to be a non-DTV customer if I was currently a customer and was told 6 months. So much for the triple bundle option.
> Larry


Yeah, same situation I encountered with Verizon DSL after being a DirecTV customer for 6+ years. Didn't stop Verizon from including package options with every paper bill. 

This is DirecTVs Achilles' heel. They can only offer a decent, not outstanding, HSI option by partnership. Once you've experienced HSI from cable, going back to DSL seems almost like going back to dial-up.


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## narcolept (Mar 1, 2007)

Try getting someone in retention at DirecTV on the phone, I'm sure they'll be able to provide you with a bundle discount through the partner.

Just let them know you're receiving flyers from the cable company advertising bundle discounts.


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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

narcolept said:


> Try getting someone in retention at DirecTV on the phone, I'm sure they'll be able to provide you with a bundle discount through the partner.
> 
> Just let them know you're receiving flyers from the cable company advertising bundle discounts.


I seem to recall asking about it and being bounced back to Verizon. Oh well, too late now. If and when they offer FIOS, I'll consider it.


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