Despite decades of time and effort trying to “fix” billing systems and practices, billing is still the primary driver of customer complaints and continues to drive cost and complexity into their operations. In fact, research from STL Partners estimates that a typical Tier-1 operator spends nearly $60 million annually in customer care costs related to billing inquiries. As telcos have embraced digital channels and redesigned customer journeys around discovery, purchasing and onboarding, many telcos are now rethinking and redesigning how they are billing customers.

At the center of this shift is getting rid of the beliefs and subsequent operational practices that different types of charges should be executed in different applications. New digital brands, MVNOs and even some existing operators are simplifying how they design their plans. Plans are charged monthly on the day a customer signs up, just like any streaming service. Any out-of-plan purchases are billed in real-time so there are no surprises. Anything consumed and not included in the plan is immediately charged for and notified to the customer, just like a rideshare app. This model is made possible by collapsing the silos between what was traditionally charging, rating and billing. We continue to see first-hand how a simpler, dynamic billing architecture is being leveraged by new digital entrants and is now being embraced more wholistically by operators with large postpaid bases as they look for continued opportunity to simplify IT stacks and lower their cost to serve.

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