Kae Zulager

Feb 03 2016

Is it Better to Pool or Share?

2.3.16 Blog

If you joined an office pool in hopes of winning and splitting the record-breaking Powerball jackpot last month, you and your co-workers probably put in an equal amount of money with the understanding that you would share the winnings equally. Right? In this case, pooled meant coming to the table with the same amount. However, when you used the term “pooled data” and “shared data” in relationship to wireless cost management, they are not apples to apples.

When we talk about pooled data, each of the employees in your enterprise could potentially be coming to the table with a different monthly maximum. As an example, 1 could have an allotment of 5 GB per month, another might have 3 GB, and another could be limited to 1 GB. The limits would be dictated by their plans – the higher the allotment, the higher the access fee – and would be added together to create 1 combined data pool. Some staff members would emerge as power users consuming more data than some of their counterparts, and more than their plans’ allotment. And of course, there would be employees, as part and parcel of their jobs, who use less than fellow co-workers and what their plans allow. The usage gets netted together at the end of the month, and the total of pooled data available can change as employees join or leave the company (and this group).

A shared data scenario goes differently. The total amount of data available is based on the company’s wireless plan. Let’s say a company has a plan which offers 10 GB per month and there are three employees, each with a device, using the plan. The plan charges an access fee for each device, and each of these employees can use what they need during the month within the 10 GB limit. If a fourth person joins this group, the overall data limit would stay level at 10 GB. They would need to divide data further amongst the group.

So is it better to pool or share? The answer is that it depends on the size of the enterprise, and the number of users and their monthly usage. As companies aim to keep data charges in check, shared data plans generally work better for smaller groups because they typically have user limits. Pooled plans can be used for any amount of users and if you have access to unpublished low rate plans, this can be a good way to optimize your account.

If you would like to learn more about renegotiating your wireless contract, be sure to request our free guide The Five Questions You Should Ask When Renegotiating Your Wireless Contract. Simply click here to download your copy today!

Still Protecting Your Wireless Rights,

Kae Zulager

Jan 27 2016

Take Five to Keep Tabs on Wireless Changes

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Are you ready to take five already? We know it is only the end of January, but if your experience is like that at other workplaces, there are lots of new initiatives underway. And that can mean less time to keep up with all of the changes in the wireless industry. Come take five, and we’ll give you a quick update on yet another change we spotted at AT&T.

As of January 8th, AT&T stopped offering a two-year contract with a subsidized phone as an option for consumers. For Enterprise customers, contracts for subsidized device pricing is still available.

Instead of contracts, users must now purchase devices through NEXT at full price, with payment installations as an option. While this only affects CONSUMER subscribers — not businesses — we wanted to share the details and some links to keep you up-to-date.

AT&T was the last of the major providers to do away with two-year contracts for consumers. T-Mobile took the lead in 2013, followed by Sprint and Verizon’s announcement to do the same last August. AT&T is currently allowing businesses that have qualified wireless service agreements to continue, however the company is expected to announce additional details regarding corporate accounts, tablets and wearables.

You can read more about these changes in this USA Today story and at Mac Rumors. Upcoming in February, AT&T is ending and raising grandfathered data rates; you can learn more about that in our recent blog post here.

If you would like to learn more about renegotiating your wireless contract, be sure to request our free guide, The Five Questions You Should Ask When Renegotiating Your Wireless Contract. Simply click here to download your copy today!

Still Protecting Your Wireless Rights…

Jan 25 2016

Just How Many Mobile Devices Are Connecting to Corporate Networks and What is the Risk?

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Just how many mobile devices are connecting to corporate networks? According to Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., quite a few; the use of mobile devices is extensive and continuing to grow. As the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) debate continues, the number of companies allowing employees to access secure corporate networks using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has climbed to 95% according to a 2014 survey of more than 700 IT professionals. And surprisingly from a security standpoint, they are not all company-owned; 74% permit access from both personal and company-owned devices. Only 20% say that devices provided by the company may solely be used.

Of the survey participants, 72% report that their companies have more than twice as many personal devices connecting to corporate networks now than compared to two years ago. The ability to see the growth by numbers is thanks to surveys commissioned by Check Point in 2012, 2013, and 2014. The data collected by Dimensional Research represents a statistical sampling of IT professionals from companies positioned in countries across the globe including the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. There were some variances in participating countries over the three-year span; however, the survey groups consistently represented organizations ranging in size from less than 100 to more than 15,000.

From a security standpoint, the Apple iOS is viewed as the safer mobile platform for connectivity in corporate environments. The Android platform currently triggers the most concern for corporate security. The 2014 survey revealed that 64% of the respondents believe that Androids pose a greater risk. This perception was higher than previous years; increasing from 49% in 2013, and almost doubling from its 30% rating in 2012. During the same time period, confidence in Apple improved; as respondent concern decreased from 25% (2012 & 2013) to 16% in 2014.

And when asked about who is a greater mobile security risk — cybercriminals or careless employees – a whopping 87% of the professionals interviewed cited employee behavior as being the more significant threat. The need for tactical security measures and employee education is apparent.

For more on the BYOD debate and risk, check out our previous blog on this hot topic.

Still Protecting Your Wireless Rights…

Jan 12 2016

Hold the Phone. Grandfathered Rate Unlocked and Raised

AT&T customers with grandfathered unlimited smartphone data plans are going to see their rates unlocked and hiked in February. The company says it is bumping up its rate by $5 a month to enable its continued delivery of optimal service as use of mobile data hits record levels.

For a customer with one line, this equates to $60 a year. Multiply that by 100 lines for a $6,000 annual increase, or 1,000 lines and the budget has jumped to an extra $5,000 a month or $60,000 per year. Don’t forget to add in additional corresponding taxes for the increase in spend. AT&T expects consumer and business use of mobile data to continue its upward spiral and cites this as the first time in seven years that it has instituted an increase.

Here are the four key things to know:

AT&T says this change will not affect current unlimited data speeds. The exception is if a customer is in a congested area and has gone over the 22GB limit that billing cycle, then it will be throttled.
Changing plans is absolutely an option, but comes with a caveat. AT&T says that customers who leave their current plans cannot switch back to the unlimited data plans in the future. As a side note, the company is cross-marketing its Mobile Share program that rolls over unused data for one month and touts a 15GB-for-the-price-of-10GB offer.
Current customers who cancel their wireless services because of the $5 hike will have their early termination fees (ETFs) waived for the lines impacted by the price increase. This is contingent on customer cancellation within 60 days after the price increase first appears on the wireless bill. Another limitation is that if a consumer enters into a new term commitment after receiving notice of the rate hike and then cancels, the ETFs will apply.
Customers with smartphones on an AT&T NextSM installment plan are required to pay the remaining NextSM balance for any cancelled lines.

If you have any questions about how this change could impact your company, please click here to contact The Bill Police. In addition, we have a brand new guide that may just come in handy sooner than later! If you would like to learn more about renegotiating your wireless contract, be sure to request our free guide, The Five Questions You Should Ask When Renegotiating Your Wireless Contract. Simply click here to download your copy today!

Still Protecting Your Wireless Rights…

Jan 12 2016

Don’t hesitate to ask the big guys for a discount

Profits are significantly up for wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon. So if you are looking for better rates, don’t hesitate to ask for those discounts and promotions. They are doing just fine revenue-wise, so the opening to reduce your expenses has arrived.

According to FierceWireless, industry analyst Chetan Sharma issued his report following third quarter. “In 2015 so far, Verizon and AT&T earned roughly $17/subscription/month while T-Mobile and Sprint collectively lost $0.39 on every subscription/month,” Sharma said. Corporate financials revealed that the front runners focused strategically on margins for optimization, while the latter two went after increasing net subscriptions.

Taking a look at EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization), AT&T posted a record wireless service margin of 49.4 percent in third quarter 2015; a slight increase from its second quarter at 48.5 percent, and up 6.3 percent from the third quarter 2014’s posting of 43.1. Verizon’s performance beat AT&T’s. Its wireless segment EBITDA margin on service revenues was 56.4 percent for third quarter 2015, 6.9 percent up from its third quarter 2014 posting of 49.5 percent.

In third quarter 2015 postpaid net adds, Verizon secured the lead with 1.3 million postpaid customer additions. However, reports indicate that the bulk of the additions came via tablets (totaling 818,000) versus postpaid handsets which yield higher profitability. For a more extensive breakdown about carrier performance, take a look at this article from FierceWireless.

Still Protecting Your Wireless Rights…

Kae Zulager

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