Most people know that if they use their mobile phone whilst they are abroad they will be charged more for calls and text messages than if they were in the UK.  But what about data costs?  How much will you be charged if you need to go on the internet or download a music track whilst you are on foreign soil?  The easy answer is ‘a lot’!

 

The networks currently charge between £3 and £7.50 per megabyte of usage!  This means if you were away for a week and checked your email and maybe browsed a few websites each day you could run up a bill of at least £50!

 

Several data roaming charges horror stories have recently been seen in the press.  Some customers have run up huge phone bills as they have not realised that UK unlimited data packages also apply abroad.

 

The EU commissioner Vivian Reding has warned networks that they must cut their data and text message charges whilst abroad.  It seems that T-Mobile are one of the first to announce their price cuts.

 

T-Mobile currently charge the most for using data whilst abroad charging customers £7.50 per Mb, but this will soon be slashed to just £1.50 per Mb making T-Mobile the cheapest of all the operators for data roaming.

 

O2 have also cut their data roaming charges by 57% (for contract customers) charging £3 per megabyte.

 

Lets hope that T-Mobile have set the standard for the other networks to follow.  Remember to avoid being stung by a high mobile phone bill when you return from your holiday check with your call charges with your network before you travel.

In business, keeping overhead down is a matter of knowing where to look to cut costs. Even the most detailed cost control practices can miss hidden costs, and nowhere is this truer than in the details of a company’s telecom services. More often than not, telecom audits will reveal hidden costs that have resulted in significant overcharges from the past. The good news is that given the right telecommunication consultant that lost money is recoverable. Not only that, but those charges are removable going forward. The telecommunication consulting professionals at Rainbow Information Systems remind you that if you’ve yet to do a phone bill audit, the only thing you’ve got to lose by not doing so is more money.

In terms of most businesses, telecommunications includes a variety of services including local, long distance and cellular services, internet and data services, paging, phone maintenance expenses, and more. With so many bases to cover there are ever more opportunities for billing errors, and the sheer scope entailed in keeping track of minute details can result in missed items and severe overcharges. A qualified telecom billing analyst can actually save a company tens of thousands of dollars in erroneous charges. How? By working to recoup past overages and removing hidden and outdated charges moving forward.

Companies like Rainbow Information Systems perform a comprehensive review of a company’s telecom services. This review consists of practices that include comparing contracts to what you’re actually being billed for, looking for built-in discounts and bonuses you are entitled to but have never received, services that may have been cancelled but are still on your bill, and more. When past overcharges are found, these companies go to bat as your advocate and negotiate with telecom providers to recoup these charges for you. And once those charges are removed, the slate is clean and you’ll enjoy a reduction in your telecom costs in the future.

Telecom consultants can reveal another hidden truth to clients; the fact that often times what they think are good deals and solid pricing are often anything but. Experienced telecom professionals will not only make recommendations to clients about the most cost effective ways to communicate; they can also work with your telecom provider one on one to renegotiate existing contracts and produce additional savings.

Imagine recovering thousand of dollars in telecom service charges you should have never paid out in the first place. And imagine a future in which those same telecom services were rendered at affordable, and more importantly accurate, rates. Perform an audit on your telecom services, and see what charges you’ve quite literally been missing.