Goin' extra terrestrial...

After about 3 years of tolerating rate increases from our sole cable+internet provider (only one offers service on our street, in the MIDDLE of the city of Seattle for the love of Pete!... auugh), the latest promotional deals and employer discounts have finally made another option viable!


In the past, the cost comparisons were always within $2-3 difference per month. However, with all the current deals stacked up, here is our monthly breakdown including all taxes and fees:

current provider (who shall remain unnamed):
standard (cheapo) cable & 512K (cheapo) broadband combo package: $106.41

new providers:
DirecTV (cheapo) w/ DVR: $35.98
Clearwire wireless 1.5K broadband: $32.42
total: $68.40

Stacked up on an annual basis, that's a $1276.92 - 820.80 = 456.12 savings!

*** warning, these numbers are not official, reflect only my service options, and shall not be legally binding! ***

What's amusing is how the old isn't even comparable to the new service. The TV picture quality is clearly superior with DirecTV, and the Clearwire internet speed is about 2-3 times faster. Not that I aim to watch more TV, but I'm just sayin'...

I love the free market system.