The Bill Police: Protecting Your Wireless Rights since 2003
Corporate Wireless is a headache to manage. We fix that.
Will applications be the new data? Being in the industry for so long we have seen lots of transitions. First voice was the hot item, then email, then data and now we see all of the options for apps.
We believe apps are going to be the new data AND they are now be able to be billed to your customer account. [Read more…] about Apps Will Be the New Data
The funny thing to us is that Sprint shared it under the guise of a new upgrade plan which is good for at best $150 – with ALL rebates, offers and a 2 year agreement. Take that amount, subtract out the $36 upgrade fee, and you are back to $114 at best. If you don’t get the BEST price, you can be eligible for a $75 or $25 credit.
That math works out a bit worse: if you get the $75 credit, your net savings is $39 after the upgrade fee. If you are an unfortunate who only gets the $25 plan, then you will actually owe Sprint $11.
The good news: Sprint will cap the upgrade fee at $150…very generous. You can check out the offer and fine print here.
If you are fortunate to have a wireless expense management provider who can help you navigate these charges, there are some work arounds, but that doesn’t mean you won’t “accidentally” be charged. Here at The Bill Police, we’re always on the lookout to help clients determine whether they qualify for these fees or if they overcharged “accidentally”.
Sprint also announced a change to its Early Termination Fee (ETF) for customers with smartphones, tabs, laptops and netbooks. As of the 9th of September Sprint will start charging a $350 termination fee — the same as Verizon and AT&T. As is the case with all other ETFs, required by law, the fees will be pro-rated depended on the number of months left on a subscriber’s contract. The charge is a hefty step-up from its prior fee of $200.
As always, special terms can be negotiated depending on contracts and expertise so contact your WEM provider for help in reducing or eliminating these costs.
Now, AT&T customers will only have one message plan option: unlimited messaging at $20.00.
Here is what ATT is saying: [Read more…] about AT&T is Ending the $10 Text Messaging Plan (We mean YOU!)
An interesting development: AT&T has ended their A-list September 1st, poof!
For those of you who are not Bill Police clients, the A-list was an AT&T program which allowed for EACH PHONE to have their top 10 numbers called to be added into a program which rated these calls as mobile–to-mobile calls, thereby reducing peak minutes. Because your voice charges are based off peak minutes in your pool, if you reduce your pool you will reduce the access fee you pay. Translation: Mobile-to-mobile minutes reduce your bill.
AT&T’s statement:
“While new customers will no longer be able to benefit from having a pool of five or ten numbers (depending on the plan) to call as much as they want, anyone currently using the service will be grandfathered in. Note: As of 9/1/2011 the A-List feature is no longer available to new customers. Existing customers who had A-List on their account prior to 9/1/2011 will be able to keep the feature as long as they stay on a qualifying rate plan, subject to AT&T’s right to discontinue A-List at any time in the future, with notice.”
This is such an interesting phenomenon because it has been a HUGE saver for our customers. We used this for all of our AT&T customers and have saved an average of 30% reduction in peak minutes which averaged between a 2% and 5% savings off our customer’s total invoice. This is a big deal and AT&T is no longer allowing NEW customers to be able to be added to this list. Could it be that it’s not a money maker for AT&T and that they actually offered something that was significant value to their customers and realized they were not capitalizing on it? We think so.
Because, AT&T is now “replacing” the A-list with the option for a subscriber to ADD an additional feature: the $20 unlimited messaging plan. Interesting how this so nicely corresponds to our other blog article, “AT&T is removing the $10 text messaging plan: This means YOU!” This $20 unlimited messaging plan coincidentally includes unlimited Mobile-to-Mobile minutes.
This unlimited messaging plan will now allow for folks who are using their current $5, $10 or $20 text messaging plan to move or convert to the $20 unlimited messaging plan and have unlimited Mobile to Any Mobile minutes. Mobile-to-any Mobile means you can call from any wireless carrier to any other wireless carrier phone and these minutes will be re-rated as mobile-to-mobile calls. For example, you have AT&T and you call your payroll person who has Sprint. These call minutes would usually come out of peak minutes, but with this feature, these minutes could now be re-rated as mobile-to-mobile calls and come out of your peak minute allowance.
Because the average wireless user texts about 534 messages a month (keep in mind, this includes people like teenagers who really up the average by texting 3339 text messages per month – our average enterprise uses approximately 200 messages per month), subscribers will need to increase the amount paid for text messaging plans by either by $5 or $15 per month to get unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes. This is great if the unlimited mobile to mobile minutes justifying the offsetting increase in the text messaging plan but that takes some analysis (by the way, we do that).
Here’s AT&T’s caveat:
With automatic addition at no-cost of AT&T’s Mobile to Any Mobile offer for our wireless customers with an unlimited messaging plan, AT&T A-List is being discontinued for new users. Existing A-List users are not affected. We have seen a very enthusiastic response to the value of Mobile to Any Mobile which lets users with an unlimited messaging plan call any mobile number in America, regardless of the wireless provider.
We are sorry to see the A-list be unavailable for new or non Bill Police customers, those that are on, we’ll keep saving you money even without the $20 unlimited messaging plan. So long A-list.
Verizon Wireless recently announced a class action lawsuit for users on “America’s Choice II” calling plans. The settlement applies to all Verizon customers from February 21, 2005 who had the America’s choice II calling plans.
The plaintiffs claim the Verizon wireless did not provide roaming service under Verizon wireless’s America choice II. They are stating breach of contract with regard to roaming under the America choice II plans. Verizon denies all claims against the lawsuit and states the settlement to be fair and reasonable.
What do you get?
If you are a current Verizon wireless customer this plan provides for specific allowance minutes you have two choices:
1. Do nothing automatically get 25 additional wireless calling minutes that you can use for a period of one year IF you go over your monthly allowance minutes.
2. Register a claim form to the administrator and received a transferable PIN for 40 units (assuming 15 units equals minutes) which is valid for 24 months that can be used to make domestic or international long distance calls. The number of minutes you will receive from these units depends upon what countries you call when using the PIN to make long distance calls.
If you have any specific questions regarding the settlement you can visit www.cowitsettlement.com as stated in the detailed commission below.
