Unfortunately, the “serious broadband competition” you refer to is only between two major players. I thought duopolies were not considered a competitive environment. What happens when things settle out? It seems all it would take is a little “wink, wink”, “nudge, nudge” between Cox and Verizon for lock-step price increases and declining customer service. You amply describe the initial problems with getting the FIOS service – do you really expect Verizon to significantly improve customer service in the future?

You are lucky enough to live in “broadband nirvana” (at least in the U.S.), but the other 90% of the U.S. is stuck in the slow lane.

Check out what Time Warner Cable is doing in the New York / New Jersey area in terms of mix-and-match bundles:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/nyandnj/products/cable/packagesandpricing.html

While they contiune to offer discounted triple play packages, they also offer a nice matrix of “double play” options to suit your needs. I think more broadband operators will go this route because they know that many customers will not need digital phone service since many people are going wireless and cutting the cord entirely. Alternatively, a lot of people just want digital cable and phone, but not broadband. Or the opposite.

Who knows what the future holds. It’s important that we keep in mind that, in a sense, this industry (“triple play broadband” that is) is still quite young and that new business models are developing. And now carriers are looking to offer “quadruple play” bundles that integrate cell phone service for a slight discount. With rising competition and the threat of wireless broadband lurking, I think operators will be forced to offer more mix-and-match plans at a fairly standardized rate.