Just $99 a month for cable, phone, and high-speed Internet?

It's just a temporary price. But it's working - for Comcast Corp. and other cable companies in competition with phone-company rivals like AT&T.

Pressed by UBS Securities analyst John Hodulik about a drop in AT&T broadband sales, AT&T chief financial officer Rick Lindner acknowledged in a quarterly conference call last week that "obviously the change this year versus last year is Comcast's entry... . We're seeing impacts from Comcast entering."

Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Cohen Reif noted AT&T's acknowledgment in a report to clients and credited "the introduction of the triple play" by Comcast over the last year.

Reif also noted that most three-way customers don't actually pay $99 - it's more like $120 when you add "premium channels and advanced services" such as digital video recording and high-definition TV.

Comcast isn't exactly leading the charge. In fact, the Philadelphia-based cable giant "significantly lags other major cable operators" in its sales of digital services, Cohen said. But, she concluded, that just means it has more room to grow. - Joseph N. DiStefano

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