It's the battle of the bundles.

Verizon yesterday announced discounted "bundled" packages for customers using two or more of its phone, satellite television, Internet and cell phone services at once.

A similar Comcast Triple Play package, introduced last April and including phone, Internet and cable television for $99 per month, has helped the cable television company snag telephone and Internet customers away from Verizon.

The Verizon plan differs slightly from Comcast's in that it is open to existing customers as well as new ones, and includes the option of cell phone service.

The Verizon "Ultimate Freedom" package sells all four services for $139.99 per month -- a savings of $20 per month over buying them separately, said spokesman Lee Gierczynski.

Under the "Triple Freedom" package, customers must get phone and Internet and their choice of either cell phone or DirectTV for $99.99 per month.

The "Double Freedom" package allows customers to pair phone and Internet services for $69.99 per month, or phone and either DirectTV or cell phone service for $74.99 per month.

Prices are fixed for at least one year.

The phone service in the packages includes unlimited local and long distance calling, the Internet is DSL up to 3 megabits per second, and the cell phone service is the Verizon Wireless America's Choice plan that ordinarily costs $39.99.

Customers using the new Verizon FiOS Internet service are not eligible to bundle it with other services.

The new bundling package might enable Verizon to hold on to more of its phone customers who might otherwise get rid of their land lines in favor of cell phones or choose digital voice services provided by cable companies, said Michael Arden, principal analyst for broadband and media research at ABI Research, based in Oyster Bay, N.Y.

With Comcast's Triple Play bundle and other similar programs, he said, cable companies "definitely see a lower churn rate. They're holding on to their customers a lot better."