Charter & AT&T Comparison

Charter Communications offers Charter TV, a digital cable service. Charter TV includes basic cable channels such as ABC, NBC and Fox, over 1,000 high-definition channels, premium movie channels such as HBO and Cinemax, and On Demand service with over 8,000 movies. As of June 2011, Charter TV packages start at $30 per month. AT&T; offers U-verse and DirecTV television packages. DirecTV is satellite television and U-verse is AT&T;'s digital cable service. DirecTV customers receive over 200 movies, sports, music, family fun and news channels. U-verse customers receive up to four set-top boxes and a DVR at no extra cost. Packages include basic cable channels, free HD channels and On Demand service. No premium movie channels are included. DirecTV packages start at $30 per month and U-verse packages start at $29 per month.

Starting at $15 per month, Charter's Internet packages require a contract for phone service, as of June 2011. Download speeds begin at 1 megabit per second. Upgraded packages including PowerBoost technology run at up to 60Mbps. Charter customers are able to watch live sporting events on ESPN3.com and receive free Internet security software. AT&T; offers various packages of Internet services. Some packages require a phone line, and some don't. U-verse Internet is AT&T;'s high-speed Internet service that ranges between 3Mbps and 24Mbps. AT&T; Internet packages include 11 email accounts, online data storage, McAfee Security Suite and free Wi-Fi service. AT&T; Internet services start at $20 per month.

Charter's phone service is called Charter Phone and provides you with 10 calling features including voice mail, caller ID and call waiting. Charter offer you unlimited local and long distance with a phone service contract. Packages start at $30 per month, as of June 2011. AT&T; offers phone subscribers 20 calling features, including voice mail, call forwarding, caller ID and caller ID TV display. Starting at $25 per month, 250 local and long distance minutes are included with AT&T; phone service. An unlimited local and long distance contract costs $35 per month.

Bundles are packages that include a combination of two or more of each of the three services; television, Internet and phone. Bundles are offered at a discounted rate but include the same features as when you purchase the services individually. Charter's pre-packaged bundles start at $70 per month, as of June 2011. Charter allows you to customize bundles, while AT&T; doesn't. AT&T;'s bundles start at $50.