Sprint’s ION Bundles Services All in One

The so-called big bundle era in telecommunications is finally upon us, and it’s good news for consumers who spend big bucks each month on high-speed Internet service, multiple phone lines and long-distance.

Sprint Inc. on Wednesday began selling its all-in-one telecommunications package, called Sprint ION, in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. The company already sells the service in Kansas City, Seattle, Denver, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth.

The ION service isn’t cheap, but its $160 monthly charge includes fast connections to the Internet, EarthLink Internet service, up to four voice/fax lines (each with free custom features such as call waiting and voicemail), free local calling and 750 minutes of domestic long-distance calling.

Additional minutes of long-distance calling are priced at 7 cents per minute. The package price does not include directory assistance calls or the various fees, taxes and surcharges that are piled up on nearly all phone bills these days.

ION’s $160 sticker price may be a shocker at first, but any Californians buying comparable services through their local phone company and other providers are probably paying more than that once all the bills are added together.

Sprint’s start-up costs are truly steep, though. To get Sprint ION, customers must buy the “hub”--a control box--for $250 and also pay a one-time installation fee of $150. (Under a current promotion, Sprint will give customers a $50 discount on that installation charge.)

For many customers, the key item in the ION package is the promise of fast Internet connections. Sprint offers Internet service using digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, the same system being sold aggressively by PacBell and other phone companies.

Sprint’s package promises to deliver download speeds of up to 8 megabits per second, and sending speeds of up to 1 megabit per second. But like all other DSL services, the user’s ability to get those speeds--or DSL service at all--depends on several factors, including the user’s distance from the nearest phone equipment office.

A Sprint executive, well aware of ongoing customer frustrations in California over rivals’ DSL installation delays, said the company is promising to install ION in 30 to 45 days after the order date. Installation takes about five hours.

Sprint’s current ION package is an all-or-nothing proposition, though. So it may not be worth the cost for consumers who will not use all the packaged features and services.

Nonetheless, it’s a sign of things to come. Phone companies are betting that the way to a customers’ wallet in the future involves being a kind of one-stop-shopping communications store, by providing a range of services and putting them on a single bill.

Verizon Communications (formerly GTE), cable firms MediaOne and Cox Communications already sell smaller versions of communications packages in certain regions in California. AT&T;’s fixed wireless unit will join the fray in San Diego next month, and then in Los Angeles in November or December.

Slammer Gets Slammed: Long Beach-based Business Discount Plan Inc. got slapped with a $2.4-million fine by federal regulators for switching consumers’ long-distance phone company without their knowledge or permission--an illegal practice known as slamming.

Officials at the Federal Communications Commission also criticized the company for using what it called unreasonable telemarketing practices, such as giving residents the impression that the marketer represented the person’s local phone company.

The FCC action comes a bit late. Spurred by a pile of slamming complaints, in May 1998 the state of Connecticut sued the company and AT&T; settled a similar lawsuit against the firm. More than a year ago, the same company was sued by US West over similar practices.

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Elizabeth Douglass can be reached at elizabeth.douglass@latimes.com.