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Category: Insights

It’s not how much you spend; it’s how much leverage you have and keep

Contrary to what the providers tell you, the correlation between commitment and great prices is a lot lower than the correlation between leverage and great prices. The provider sales teams get compensated in part on the basis of the commitments they secure. Commitments (unlike actual spend) are “bankable,” and a […]

Second tier doesn’t mean second rate

You wouldn’t give an entire large enterprise network to a carrier with $1-2 billion in annual sales, but you could certainly give such a carrier a lot of business.  The carriers in this category include tw telecom, PaeTec, XO, Level 3 and Global Crossing. They have issues-Global Crossing famously mistreated […]

Don’t get roped into a benchmarking clause without teeth

If you ask a provider for a rate review or benchmarking clause you’ll get one. But the provider versions are worthless-what we call “we’ll talk” clauses. These don’t give you a right to money; they give you the right to a conversation. Under a real rate review clause, both sides […]

Pounding the table isn’t the way to limit surcharges

Once less than 5%, carrier surcharges now total 20% or more. Like hotels, banks and car rental companies, telecom carriers have become adept at padding their bills through the addition of surcharges that can’t be negotiated and that they can change at will. New telecom managers and corporate IT bosses […]