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Telecom Bill Shock! And How Service Providers Can Avoid the Facebook Hate

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November 02, 2011

Telecom Bill Shock! And How Service Providers Can Avoid the Facebook Hate

By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor


Amdocs (News - Alert), a leading provider of telecommunications services, recently posted a blog that is more imaginative and interesting than most industry-generated blogs – gotta love any blog starting a post with “Imagine receiving a bill for $18,000 dollars.”


No, it’s not Rewrite John Lennon Day, that really happened to one retiree in Dover, Mass., after a promotional no-limit data plan expired without warning.

Due to a new agreement between US carriers and the Federal Communications Commission, however, “mobile subscribers nearing their monthly limit for voice, text or data services will now receive an alert when they are in danger of being charged extra.”

Which does rather take the sport out of it, but we suppose, on balance, it’s a giant leap for mankind and all that.

Politicians pandering to their P.R. by jumping on such legislation, which helps 0.0003 percent of all Americans but looks like you’re taking A Firm Stand on An Important Social Problem, know their stuff: According to data released from CTIA (News - Alert), the American wireless industry association, there are now more wireless customer connections in the US (327.6 million) than people (315.5 million), the blog reports, adding that “as the number of connected devices grows, customers need to feel confident that their multiple devices won’t lead them down the track of financial ruin through unexpected charges.”

So hey, Amdocs officials say, turn a requirement into an opportunity. Okay, you have to tell customers when they’re at their limits. Fine. As the smart service provider does so to comply with the letter of the law, they also “offer the subscriber a choice of options to dynamically update their package, on the spot, so they can continue surfing or downloading data without suffering any service interruption.”

It’s providing dynamic services, as the blog explains, “exactly at the time when subscribers need them the most,” as well as saving the subscriber from bill shock and your service provider from a slandering your name on Facebook (News - Alert).


David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin







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