Canadian Wireless Auction – both sides of the coin.

While announcing the results of 700 MHz spectrum auction earlier this week, Industry Minister James Moore called Canadians big winners.

Let’s see if we are really the winners?

The 700 MHz spectrum is the highest-quality wireless frequency ever auctioned in Canada. This spectrum travels longer distances, requires fewer cell towers and penetrates through building walls, elevators, and even through to underground parking lots. A recent report from networking experts has also predicted that the mobile data traffic is expected to explode 11 fold by 2018. The new wireless licenses will provide better service for us Canadians who love to stay connected and are very heavy data users.

The wireless spectrum auction has generated $5.27 billion, the highest return ever for a wireless auction in Canada. This revenue will go directly to the Consolidated Revenue Fund and so as per Mr. Moore Ottawa will have more money to spend on some other services that are important for Canadians.

The new auction results have also shown that industry Canada is committed to increasing competition in Canadian wireless industry. At least 4 players got a pie of spectrum in all provinces which means more competition. Quebec based Vidéotron is expected to become a 4^th major player as it got licenses for Ontario, BC and Alberta as well.

But some analysts are raising a valid question. Where from this $5.27 billion come to telcos? Of course from the consumers’ pockets. Rogers spent more than $3.2 billion on the spectrum. Looking at financial statements, Rogers Wireless generated a profit of $3.16 billion in 2013 which means it spent a profit of more than one year on this spectrum. And it seems they will not be able to afford to reduce the wireless prices any time soon. This also reinforces the point we mentioned in our Blog last year – “Your Cell Phone Bill is not going to go down any time soon”.

The new auction will of course have better wireless coverage and service for Canadians, has also generated some money for government and may also increase competition with at least 4 players in all provinces, but as we said last year, it’s not going to reduce our cellphone bills anytime soon.

Why do Canadian Telcos always leave loopholes?

The 2012 CCTS report says that 28% of the complaints accepted by CCTS were because of contract disputes. Which means about a third of consumers were unhappy just because they did not get what they were promised for. Or there were some stars saying conditions apply that the consumers did not pay attention to.

Here’s a recent example. Earlier this week, I read a big headline on CBC web-site that “Bell cuts U.S. roaming fees for Canadian users by 50%”. I was thrilled. So I called Bell to check if the reduced rates will be applicable for one of the lines I manage. And the answer was yes. But there were some conditions. The new rates were applicable for only those 2 $50 and $40 travel plans and not for other US travel plans. If you are a frequent US traveler, you can not leave these plans added for more than 30 days. So if I’m there for 40 days, I have to make sure to call them again to add the travel plan again. End of the day I got nothing as the person travels almost every month and I can not take the risk of calling Bell every month. What if I miss once?
I’m not saying that Bell did something wrong by reducing the rates of at least 2 plans that may work for most of the travelers. But why do they always leave some loopholes for people to make mistakes? Why do I have to add the plan again if I’m travelling for more than 30 days? This is just an example. The same happens with other telcos too.
I can not stress this enough for our telcos that simplify your service plans and you will have more satisfied customers. With more satisfied customers, Canadians will not be so desperate to bring competition the way they were this summer. Almost everyone was happy to see a foreign company coming to Canada.

IT Managers – Are you too busy managing your Infrastructure Solutions?

 

Hello all the IT managers out there !!!

Are you too busy managing your daily infra stuff – buying new devices, deciding about new vendors, moving to VOIP, virtualization and the list we know is a long one. But between all this are you forgetting something? This is something that falls under your responsibility and comes in front of your eyes only once in a month. On that particular day specifically you are too busy even to take a look on that and approve the payment. There is also a possibility that you haven’t even came across this in past 6 months. Because you had set an auto debit option from one of your company bank accounts.

We are talking about your monthly cell phones bills.

We understand that they are:

1. Not so easy to understand
2. Long
3. Confusing And…
4. Not on your priority list.

But, do you know that on average, corporations spend 20 percent of their IT budget on telecommunications expenses. And a big chunk of that is made up of your monthly cell phone bills. Canadian cellphone bills have risen 13% in comparison to last year. Different experts give different reasons for that including lack of competition, technology changing too fast and so on. This is a whole different topic to discuss and debate.

The point is, as an IT manager and the responsible person, you are the one who should take care of these expenses – making sure that you are paying exactly for what you are using. But you do not know what all the employees are using as you do not have time to go into the details. Even if you are lucky to get an hour or two, you are not able to

understand much other than some obvious things. To make things more complicated, you can not even find corporate price plans on your service provider’s web-site. So you do not know what other (better) options are available in the market. So if you are not a dedicated person managing the cell phone bills of your company, you give up at the moment.

And you keep paying the same bills EVERY MONTH.

Your bills may have errors which go unnoticed for months and years. You may be paying for some services that your employees may not need and so on.

If you do not have time or expertise to review your telecommunications expenses every month, solutions are available in the market. Our company Stu-Tel Inc. helps corporations manage their telecommunications assets and reduce their telecommunications expenses. If we are not able to reduce the expenses, we do not charge our clients. Not even a single penny. Get in touch with us today at info@stu-tel.com for a free analysis. You can know more about us at www.stu-tel.com.

 

About Stu-Tel Inc.:

Stu-Tel Inc. is a Montreal based Telecommunications Expense Management, Asset Management and Consulting Company. We help corporations manage their Telecommunications Assets and optimize their Telecommunications Expenses.

 

 

12 Famous Quotes about Expenses and Savings !!!

Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. – Benjamin Franklin

Look everywhere you can to cut a little bit from your expenses. It will all add up to a meaningful sum. – Suze Orman

Never spend your money before you have it. -Thomas Jefferson

Those who attend to small expenses are always rich – John AdamsThough small was your allowance,
You saved a little store:
And those who save a little
Shall get a plenty more. – William Makepeace Thackeray

Save a part of your income and begin now, for the man with a surplus controls circumstances and the man without a surplus is controlled by circumstances. – Henry Buckley

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned. – Benjamin Franklin

No man is rich whose expenditure exceeds his means; and no one is poor whose incomings exceed his outgoings.- Thomas Chandler Haliburton

You must learn to save first and spend afterwards. – John Poole

It is never too early to encourage long-term savings. – Ron Lewis

A man who both spends and saves money is the happiest man, because he has both enjoyments. – Samuel Johnson

If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right. – William Shatner

To Download a beautiful presentation of these quotes visit:http://www.slideshare.net/Stu-TelInc/12-famous-quotes-about-expenses-and-savings

Stu-Tel Inc. is a Montreal based Telecommunications Expense Management, Asset Management and Consulting Company. We help corporations manage their Telecommunications Assets and optimize their Telecommunications Expenses.

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Know more about Stu-Tel Inc. at: http://www.stu-tel.com

Why do corporations need Telecom Expense Management?

To understand why your corporation needs Telecom Expense Management, read our report at slideshare:

http://slidesha.re/14CnnVr

Your Cell Phone Bill is not going to go down anytime soon.

When I landed in Montreal in March 2006, I opted for a Motorola Razr – a sleek, smart, toy-like phone. My monthly cell phone plan with Bell Mobility included: unlimited weekend and weeknights, 200 anytime local minutes, unlimited incoming messages, voice mail and caller ID. And my monthly bill was only $20+SAF+taxes.
Today, I boast to have 1 of the best plans in market and still pay $57+taxes every month which is ~200% more than what I used to pay. Why?

I can summarize all the reasons in 1 sentence:

The technology is changing too fast.

Below are more precise reasons:
SmartPhones: How much does an iPhone cost in market without a contract?
Somewhere around $700-$800.
How much does it cost when you are locked in a 3 years contract?
$150-$200.
Question to be asked? How are cell phone companies recouping the smart phone costs? The answer is, by locking you in 3 years of contract with hefty monthly charges. Unless the smart phone prices go down, your monthly bill is not expected to go down.

Voice & Text to Data: If I trust a recent article on a telecom web-site, although the data usage has been increasing every year, the growth in Mobile data has not compensated for the decline in voice and text revenues. Mobile companies are so looking for newer ways to charge the end customers so that they can recoup the revenue difference. Are you kidding me?

3G, 4G, LTE – an ongoing story: LTE is a more efficient technology offering lower transport cost per bit. But the revenue per bit is not more than 3G networks. So the Telcos that have spent their money in deploying LTE have to find new ways to charge the customers to recoup the cost.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for latest initiatives of CRTC but I don’t think our cell phone bills are going to go down in near future because of above reasons.

Why are there so many Cell Phone Billing Errors?

Remember talking to your phone company’s rep while buying a new cellphone plan? That long list of service plans present on every service provider’s web-site and brochures? Your service provider sells these plans to you explaining that they have something for all of us depending upon our needs. But what happens in the background?

In the background, there is a software that works on these permutations and
combinations and as a result a typical billing system has around 20,000
different features to offer you. Now close your eyes and imagine 20,000 wires
criss-crossing each other. How complex system would that be?

On top of these plans the same billing system handles the discounts, adjustments, promotions, taxes and hundreds of other things.

Complexity of the Billing Systems is the primary reason of Cellphone Billing Errors.

Reps also need years of experience to master all the concepts and so most of the service providers fail to provide a good customer service!!!

How to avoid the hassle?

An old saying says: If you can’t change something, change yourself to adapt better. Below are some tips that can prepare you better:

1. Ask as many questions as you can before buying your cell phone plan. Even about the smallest things. Do you really understand the meaning of SuperTab, Bill60, Flexi plans etc etc. 
2. Make sure to understand the rates for what is included in your plan. And do not forget to ask the rates for what is not included in your plan. For e.g.: How much will you be charged for long distance? What about Roaming charges? And Overage?  
3. Be wary of slow poisons. There are plans that look cheaper as their One Time charge is low and Recurring Monthly Charge is very high.
4. If you want to understand your cellphone bill better – get in touch with us today – info@stu-tel.com. It’s FREE.
5. If you want to know the potential of savings in your cellphone bill – get in touch with us today – info@stu-tel.com. Again, it’s FREE.

Read the full Blog at:

http://www.slideshare.net/Stu-TelInc/cellphone-billing-errors-stutel-inc

Or

http://www.stu-tel.com/Blog.html

 

Do not complain about Bell and Rogers

Check out below link for what else can be done:

http://www.slideshare.net/Stu-TelInc/do-not-complain-about-bell-and-rogers#btnNext

 

Stu-Tel Inc. – We Pay for Our Services !!!

Contact us today at info@stu-tel.com for a free cellphone audit.

 

5 ways to use your Cell Phone Data Plan wisely

A Smartphone has become a necessity than a luxury now. And so is a Data Plan. We read all the horror stories of Cell Phone Bill Shocks every now and then and most of them are because of high data usage.

Below are some tips for how you can use your data plan wisely not only to avoid Bill Shocks but also to keep your voice and SMS bill low.

 1.      Use VOIP services wherever possible.

Don’t waste your money while calling your buddies who you can connect with very easily on VOIP services such as Skype. Skype is free – whether it’s a Local, Long Distance or even an overseas call. Install Skype (or any other free VOIP service) on your smartphone and enjoy free calling with a little use of data.

2.      Use Wi-Fi wherever possible.

Our home internet data goes unused most of the times. Connect your Cell Phone with your home Wi Fi and keep your Cell Phone’s Wi-Fi on while at home. You can do the same while at work. Use your office Wi-Fi rather than eating data from cellphone plan.

3.      Chat Messengers can be a replacement for Text and Picture Messages.

When possible, rather than buying a text message plan, use messengers such as BBM or WhatsApp Messenger to exchange quick messages with friends and family.

4.      Keep Data Roaming off in your Cell Phone settings.

Data Roaming is an absolute killer. It can give you the shock of your life. Know more about Canada’s worst Cell Phone Bill at http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2011/canadasworstcellphonebill/

Wherever you are, keep Data Roaming off in your cellphone’s service. If needed, you can switch it on if you absolutely need to use data from your cellphone plan while roaming out of country. You would at least know when you are using it.

5.      Take advantage of Flex Data Plans.

Almost all service providers sell Flex Data Plans where you do not have to pay for 1 GB or 2 GB in advance. You get charged in steps. Your default rate is of basic data plan and gets reset to the same every month. Your cell phone service provider will charge you for 1 GB data only if you use that much. Explore more on following link from Telus. It works more or less the same for other service providers as well.

https://www.telusmobility.com/en/QC/mobile_internet_guide/data_flex.shtml

 

If you have any questions about your cellphone bill, please send us an email at info@stu-tel.com. We would be glad to help you.

Why are Corporations more prone to Billing Errors?

Most of the North-American telecom companies have some 20,000 plans to offer to its customers. Their billing systems support not only the billing of millions of subscribers but also the handling of more than 20,000 different ways of billing the subscribers. Imagine the level of complexity of the billing software being used. If you are a corporation then this level of complexity does not say all about the possibility of billing errors on your phone invoices.

The telecom companies generally use same billing system for corporations and consumers but corporations are more prone to billing error because of following reasons:

1. No one checks the individual bills If my company covers my phone bill I would never ever bother to check how much the phone company is charging me. I would not call them to ask why they charged me roaming when I made a call from my home city itself. The telecom operations manager of the company is also not able to find such errors as he/she does not know whether the employee really made a roaming call or not.
End result is that the corporations keep paying for these billing errors.

2. Your plan is sold to you only When there is a problem on consumer plans’ billing, there are thousands of customers checking their invoices. The corporate plans are generally custom made for your corporation or for a few corporations only. As less pairs of eyes are looking at the errors, the errors go unnoticed for a long-long time.
Contact us today (info@stu-tel.com) to take care of such errors and help you save on your phone bills.