Triple Play deals can be ditched for a-la-carte bundle

[Commentary] It's time to blow up the Triple Play.

For the third time in four years, I find myself shopping for cable, Internet and phone service. As with Comcast two years ago, the promotional deal I received from AT&T is about to run out, and my bill is set to increase by about $50 a month. I'd like to stick with AT&T, but the company didn't seem terribly interested in keeping me as a customer -- the best deal they offered me would cost $25 more a month than I'm paying now. Unfortunately, the company's rivals weren't offering any stellar deals either. In fact, what I found was pretty disappointing -- I'm almost certainly going to be paying more over the course of my next service deal than I'm paying now, no matter which option I choose. But the big difference from my last two rounds of Triple Play shopping is that it now pays to build your own bundle from different providers rather than buying all three services from one company.