The opening price point will increase by 33% or $5 with 300 MB of data from the old plan of 200 MB for $15. The second tier increases the price from $25 to $30, and it adds 1 GB to the old 2 GB plan. For subscribers who share a data connection or tether their wireless phone with other devices, the new 5 GB plan will increase by $5. The plan details are below:

• AT&T DataPlus 300MB: $20 for 300MB, additional 300MB for $20.
• AT&T DataPro 3GB: $30 for 3GB, additional 1GB for $10/each
• AT&T DataPro 5GB: $50 for 5GB, with mobile hotspot/tethering, additional 1GB for $10/each

iPad 3G users can choose from three plans:

• The existing 250MB for $15 plan
• AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
• AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB

AT&T increased its data allowances because subscribers are using more data than ever. Verizon currently offers 5 GB and 10 GB mobile data plans, for 29.99 and $59.99 for its 5 GB plan. Subscribers that consume more than the 5GB limit face a penalty of $0.25 per MB. At that rate, 1GB of extra use costs $256 with Verizon, and $503.31 for that extra gigabyte of consumption with AT&T. Sprint charges $51.20 for unlimited data plans.

Corporate contracts protect the enterprise from these increases, but there are some important lessons to glean from these changes. First, managers need to recognize that employees are using more data. AT&T and Verizon are now starting to send usage alerts as subscribers consume data within their plan, but employees can ignore these alerts and organizations will want to take proactive steps to manage usage. Even organizations that have unlimited data plans need to begin monitoring and providing reports to employees regarding mobile data consumption. This is an important step to gaining control as employees are not familiar with how their activities effect data consumption. Moving forward, unlimited data plans may no longer be offered as in the case of AT&T and Verizon, or may become more costly.

Second, organizations need to determine if excessive data consumption is a result of devices, mobile apps, normal use for work, or excessive personal activities. Multitasking allows numerous apps to run in the background while actively communicating and downloading data. Managers should consider using a combination of policy and more proactive automated tools to address usage.

Finally, these price increases illustrate carriers’ strategies to use price increases to charge for the biggest consumers of data. Employers should ensure that employees are on the best service plans for their consumption needs and need to be empowered with the proper software tools to effectively manage expenses.

Telecom bills contain errors for a number of reasons. First, calculating charges is complex with items that have fixed charges, time sensitive (peak and off-peak rates), and volume-sensitive discounts. Second, telecom services have intricate tax issues that telecom providers must interpret and collect on behalf of local, city, state, federal and international government agencies. Third, carriers use different systems to manage order requests, service provisioning and billing. If items are not entered properly or disconnected items are not removed from bills, there will be overcharges. Finally, customers’ telecom inventory is constantly in motion with moves, adds, closed locations, new services and contract changes.

As rates drop, errors are likely to favor carriers. This could be a good indication that you should hire a specialist to perform an audit.

Seven Tips about Telecom Audit Specialists

1. Audits are their core competency.
2. Having performed hundreds of audits, specialists know where to look for billing errors and how to submit claims. This increases the probability they will receive refunds.
3. Specialists understand carriers’ internal processes and procedures for reviewing claims and authorizing refunds.
4. Specialists will have established precedents with carriers that allow them to get larger refunds than otherwise possible.
5. Specialists have tracking and reporting systems to track the progress of the audit, manage negotiations and resolution.
6. Thanks to their carrier relationships and dedicated resources, specialists can minimize delays in submitting claims. As carriers attempt to impose limitations on customers’ ability to file refund claims, specialists are able to work around those limitations to secure refunds.
7. Audits are more often performed on a contingency basis. This means if they don’t find anything, you don’t pay anything.

While historical audits are beneficial, enterprises cannot substitute them for a proactive TEM program. Without an ongoing program, the errors will reappear on bills. A historical audit requires documentation and information that may not be available after a period of time passes. And, many contracts now require enterprises to identify billing errors within 90 to 180 days of receiving the bill. Once the audit is complete, a good specialist can offer software and services to proactively manage the full lifecycle of telecom expenses.

For most enterprises, BlackBerrys are still the gold standard for mobile communications. Telecom and IT groups place a premium on the cost management tools, security and policy features that RIM provides. They also see value in being able to remotely set policy control and manage data. In addition, the ease of swapping devices, battery life and RIM’s dependability have provided a compelling case for Blackberrys. However, after this week’s outages, employees are demanding change.

The three-day BlackBerry outage interrupted e-mail and Internet services for tens of millions of frustrated users. In addition, the media frenzy surrounding Apple’s new iPhone roll-out has employees questioning why they are using BlackBerrys. Apple says pre-orders of the iPhone 4S, on its first-day, topped 1 million. This broke the record set by last year’s model. For international business travelers an important feature of the new iPhone 4S is that it’s a world phone. Users will now have full access to cellular networks in more than 200 countries around the globe, even when the device works with CDMA.

How should you respond when employees demand an iPhone or other device? While it may not be possible to require everyone to use the same device, you do need to set some limits. Remind them that personal devices can be lost and stolen. Unsecured wireless networks may expose your employee to risks and compromised devices can spread malware to your network. Managers must think about data and information that attackers could target.

Not all employees are able to select the best device for their business needs, and some devices are less manageable than others. It is important to consider the costs associated with changing devices and Blackberry devices’ reputation for more limited data use compared to Androids and iPhones. What are you doing to manage your mobility costs and manage mobile devices within your organization?

I recommend three ways to get this beast under control:

1. Establish a strong corporate policy for mobility with automated enforcement. The key here is not only top-down support of the policy, but a formal (meaning documented and publicized) policy that assigns service plans/devices by job roles, and defines consumption / usage rules. I’d also recommend a procurement portal to automate enforcement for acquisition, upgrades, and deactivation.
2. Manage employees’ plans to save money. Sounds easy when I say it like that, huh? But to be serious, this requires a structured, automated approach. You absolutely need software that monitors wireless plans / consumption for you. Also, you do need to do a little work to get the biggest bang for your buck from providers. Get in touch with someone here at Telesoft about how to pool users, optimize service plans, negotiate better rates, etc.
3. Automate invoice management, validation, and reporting. These tasks are incredibly labor intensive and there’s no reason to keep doing them manually! Automate to avoid billing errors, human errors, late payment penalties, as well as automate reconciliation of billing with inventory, automatically manage chargebacks, and fully meet tax compliance requirements.

If you follow my guidelines and implement a wireless expense management program, I predict you save at least 5%, but maybe as high as 35% of your total telecommunications expenses. I look forward to hearing your individual feedback and results.