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From TEMIA's TEM Experts

Unlikely Developments in TEM & WEM

Posted by: TEMIA in Untagged on Oct 06, 2010

It may have been a slow summer, but the end of September and start of October made up for that. Over a short ten day period of time Verizon announced it is planning to phase out unlimited data plans, the cell phone tax was repealed, TEMIA presented its new Ethics Code and Verizon will pay one of the largest refunds ever for a telecom company.

September 24, 2010 Verizon announced that it will phase out unlimited data plans over the next 4 to 6 months. This follows AT&T's June announcement that it was eliminating unlimited data. Sprint is considering similar limits on data plans. Verizon said it was not likely to follow AT&T's approach of tiered data with monthly caps.

The real problem for carriers' networks isn't heavy data usage, but capacity and network congestion at select times in certain regions. Instead of data plans based on tiers for usage, Verizon may price data based on when it is used... like peak usage charges for mobile voice services. This approach may get some users to decide when to check e-mail, download files, watch YouTube videos or listen to Pandora. Do you have the technology to monitor and manage data consumption? Enterprises will need to prepare to deal with new fees for employees that exceed their plan allotments, when the contracts for unlimited data plans end! There could be some initial savings as employees are shifted from more expensive unlimited data plans, but there will be many who pay more for exceeding the new limits of their data plans.Our members can help you optimize your plans.

Cell phone Tax is Repealed! September 27, 2010 President Obama signed into law, HR 5297, the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 repealing the tax on employer paid mobile voice services retroactive to December 31, 2009. Under the old tax, employees were required to keep a record of each call, including its business purpose, date, and time. Employers had to assign a pro rata share of monthly service charges for each personal call and include its value in the taxable wages of employees. The repeal is likely to increase the number of employees that are covered by employer paid plans and increase the use of wireless services among employees. Read our report to prepare for the repeal of this tax.

September 29, 2010 TEMIA introduced its Ethics Code for the TEM market. This will help streamline the buying process with truth in advertising and a number of important provisions. Learn more

October 3, 2010 the FCC announced that Verizon Wireless will pay up to $90 million to 15 million cellphone customers who were wrongly charged. This is one of the largest-ever refunds by a telecommunications company. Do you know what refunds you should receive? Our members can help!