The latest Consumer Reports survey of major telecom providers and bundled services, featured in the February issue, proclaims that AT&T and Verizon perform the best when it comes to offering the triple play (VoIP, data and TV). While the study itself is behind a pay wall, the press release offers tips on getting the best triple play (or double play) deal from carriers. Quality of service varies by geographical region and competition (or lack thereof), making uniform national ratings for quality sometimes unhelpful — but CR offers some good pointers.

“Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse, whose networks are fiber-optic based, were the most consistently satisfying providers for their Internet, television, and telephone services,” reported Consumers Union, who publishes the magazine. “In areas where telco-delivered service is not available, a highly-rated cable company is the next-best choice for many households,” says Consumer Reports.

By highly rated they mean Bright House and Cox, as their ratings (pdf) have Comcast and Charter continuing a trend of coming in last in these types of surveys. The Consumer Reports blog originally requested data for the survey — and while the report indicates a high level of satisfaction with triple play bundles, the comments left at the Consumer Reports blog reflect the usual mixed bag of success and horror stories. Qwest in particular seems to take a hammering.

As has always been the case, you may find that buying services independently remains your best bet, depending on the quality of competition and carriers in your market. One small nit to pick with Consumer Reports: AT&T U-Verse isn’t technically fiber optic broadband. It’s fiber to the node and VDSL2. You only get to confuse the difference between last mile and core network fiber if you work in telecom marketing.
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