B ell and Rogers are waging a war for your business – and you can gain by playing off one telecom giant against the other.

It's Red (Rogers) vs. Blue (Bell), cutting prices for couch potatoes. And both combatants are using couches in their ads.

Rogers kicked off the fight by showing how its home phone service – which includes calling features (such as voice mail and call display) and long distance minutes – undercuts Bell's prices by up to $25 a month.

Bell attacked on another front, boasting that its satellite TV service was cheaper than Rogers cable and included more channels. Plus, its wireless smartphones were faster and cheaper, too.

Behind the skirmishes could be the arrival of new wireless phone players to Canada's market later this year.

Bell and Rogers want to shore up their positions before the new companies put out innovative price plans.

They also want to sign up customers for at least one service to get a foot in the door.

Later, they will offer bigger discounts for ordering more services from the same supplier.

This strategy, known as bundling, is the weapon of choice for companies that want to increase customer loyalty.

You can use bundling to your advantage – and capitalize on the rivalry to negotiate better deals.

Marc Charbonneau has three Rogers services (cable TV, Internet and home phone). He was getting a bundle discount of 15 per cent a month on each one.

He was dismayed to learn his saving would drop to 10 per cent, since Rogers now requires having four services to get a 15 per cent bundle discount.

"I was prepared to cancel all of my Rogers services as the prices just seem to rise and rise and I could not afford it," he said.

But when he called to cancel, Rogers came back with several attractive offers.

"The end result is that I now have phone service with two options instead of one and 500 minutes of Canadian long distance.

"I have reduced my Internet charges and Rogers has increased its speed.

"In the end, I am saving $25 a month. I am quite impressed that customer service was able to adjust my billing with one call and hear my concerns."

I, too, have three Rogers services. And I, too, got a recent letter saying my 15 per cent bundle discount would go down to 10 per cent.

My home phone service is with Bell. And I'm not ready to switch sides yet.

So, I called Rogers and Bell and asked them both a few questions.

How much did our household pay and what were we getting?

What rate plans had come out since we signed on?

If we adopted a different rate plan, how much could we save?

What other savings could be had by cutting features we didn't use?

As a result, I got offers of better deals from both Rogers and Bell.

I'm paying less than I was before – and I didn't have to move anywhere.

Rogers agreed to raise our discount on cable TV and Internet to 20 per cent for the next 12 months.

Though our wireless discount would drop to 10 per cent, Rogers added customer loyalty discounts that cut $25 a month from our wireless bill.

Bell also found savings once I spoke to the "loyalty department." Our old plan was replaced by a new one that cost $10 to $15 a month less.

My advice: In a price war between two big players, ask for concessions. Play one side against the other. Don't switch sides without a fight. You can win great deals for yourself – at least until next year, when you may have to fight all over again.

eroseman@thestar.ca