Bad billing leads to bad profitability. That much is understood by telecommunications providers everywhere struggling with accurate, comprehensive billing.
Yet billing is also an arm of customer service. When customers receive the services they expect to receive and pay the prices they’ve agreed to pay for them, what is there to tarnish the reputation of the telecom company they remit payment to?
It is not uncommon, however, for telecom service providers to learn this lesson the hard way. Frontier Communications and CenturyLink, giants in the industry, recently came under fire for disorganized billing practices some subscribers believe are exploitive and avoidable. As the companies work to resolve these conflicts, what can CSPs big and small take away from these unfortunate situations?
Battles over billing issues
At a time when most telecommunications providers are bolstering their wireless services, Frontier has instead doubled down on wireline. Since 2010, the company has bought up more than $17 billion in wireline network from competitors Verizon and AT&T, expanding its revenue potential twofold and adding 1.6 million to its fiber-optic subscriber base, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The work required to integrate these acquisitions, however, has seemingly overtaken Frontier’s administrative abilities, especially regarding billing. Although the company’s spokespeople have not discussed publicly what went wrong and what they’re doing to correct matters, citing customer privacy concerns, subscribers from across the country have come forward citing disagreements over their bills. One customer from West Virginia has even gone as far as filing litigation against Frontier, saying his refusal to pay questionable bills resulted in the lowering of his credit score, according to the West Virginia Record.
In another recent case, the state of Minnesota filed a lawsuit against CenturyLink on behalf of customers who were quoted one price but charged two, sometimes three, times more. Since then, seven additional states have also filed class-action suits alleging higher-than-expected charges and billing for services customers never requested.
Only time will tell what happens with Frontier and CenturyLink, but any telecom company reveling in their misfortune should think twice before considering themselves safe. Why?
1. Because this can happen to anybody in telecom
We’re not here to beat up on service providers. Our  experience has taught us that telecommunications providers everywhere suffer from inconsistent, error-prone billing practices. It is our hope the companies will accept responsibility, take these troubles as learning opportunities and invest in more robust billing solutions going forward.
Other telecom service providers may not have this bittersweet luxury to correct their mistakes. Who among them will come under fire tomorrow? That’s anybody’s guess. But know that this is not the last bad billing epidemic to hit telecom.
2. Because their only mistake was wanting to grow
It’s important to note that neither Frontier nor CenturyLink have been indicted for any real wrongdoing. There appears to be no conspiracy to defraud subscribers or evidence of a widespread bait-and-switch operation. All signs point to a legitimate business that grew too much too quickly, and its billing department faltered because of it.
“CSPs require greater agility and flexibility if they expect to scale painlessly.”
But it should be the mission of every CSP to expand its product offerings and, in turn, its customer base. Whether growth is measured or meteoric, these businesses require greater agility and flexibility if they expect to scale seamlessly and painlessly. They must recognize and honor every promotional price they put out into the world, rate usage appropriately across the entirety of their product portfolios and otherwise provide the services subscribers expect to receive. Failure to do so will only end in customer turnover and ruined reputations.
We say this to drive a single point home: Telecom billing is not getting any easier. CostGuard®, our award-winning B/OSS solution, brings together a breadth of features designed to enhance billing and fuel future growth for all types of CSPs – wireline, mobile, IP, convergent, cloud and fiber alike. Our telecom billing software targets the complexity inherent in modern telecom billing processes and can streamline internal operations with help from business automation, dynamic rating tools and an integrated tax engine. Our expert teams provide strong scopes of work, on-time conversions and comprehensive support including best-practice consulting to ensure your operations are efficient and your growth is well-managed.
Your subscribers deserve a better billing experience, one that is always as accurate and reliable as it can be. Don’t let the intricacies of the greater telecom industry affect how you acquire, serve and retain your customers.
Contact IDI Billing Solutions today if your company craves simpler billing practices.
