The Bill Police: Protecting Your Wireless Rights since 2003

Corporate Wireless is a headache to manage. We fix that.

Actionable Intelligence

Your data is at risk with Apple’s Forced Entry Breach. Now there’s a software fix!

Whats Happening?
Apple has issued an emergency iOS software version 14.8 to help mitigate the effects of Apple devices being able to be breached without any user action (known as a “Forced Entry Breach” or a “Zero Click Exploit”). This breach impacts every Apple device (iPhone, iPad, MAC and Apple watches).

Yikes.
Yes. An estimated 50,000 iPhones have been infected by this breach (called Pegasus) which is believed to have been initiated in the middle east to gain sensitive data.

The breach can be enacted without any action from the target, unlike most cyber-attacks where the user is tricked into downloading an attachment or clicking a link with embedded malware.

What can i do about it?
Immediately update your iOS software. iPhone users should update to the latest iOS version 14.8 by going to:

>General

>Software Update

>iOS 14.8

>Download and install.

Techcrunch states, “Pegasus gives its government customers near-complete access to a target’s device, including their personal data, photos, messages and location”

Here are some more resources:

Techcrunch

CNBC

We are the Bill Police and are still Protecting your wireless Rights….Right Plan. Right Price. Right Result

Hotspots are literally HOT! Verizon recalls Ellipsis Jetpacks for fire hazard

According to Verizon’s website: “Verizon is working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to recall Ellipsis Jetpack mobile hotspot devices, including models MHS900L, MHS900LS and MHS900LPP…….it has been determined that the lithium-ion battery in the Ellipsis Jetpack devices can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard.”

Verizon has recalled over 2.5 million hotspots due to battery overheating issues.

The batteries in these devices can overheat causing a burn and/or fire hazard. Verizon has sent two over the air (OTA) updates to these devices to assist in reducing the risks. Details about how to avoid overheating can be found here: https://www.verizon.com/about/news/statement-regarding-us-consumer-product-safety-commission-recall

Verizon is working to replace these devices to users at no cost.

Complete information for customers can be found at ellipsisjetpackrecall.expertinquiry.com or by calling 855-205-2627.

Bill Police Launches New Portal

We are excited to announce our new Bill Police Analytics portal! We have been honing our wireless analytics for some time and officially launched our new portal in first quarter 2021.

We have received great feedback from the launch and hope it provides users with easy access to a “one touch” experience that can provide lots of relative data at a glance.

You can get to a demo of the portal from our website at www.billpolice.com and click on the “Request a Demo” button.

And we are….still Protecting Your Wireless Rights….especially for Eric today.

Its Tax Time: Here’s What’s New with Wireless Taxes and What to Do About Them!

Cell Phone Taxes make up almost 19% of your Wireless Bill!   So, they are not to be ignored.

  • According to the Tax Foundation,” typical American households with four wireless phones paying $100 per month for wireless voice service can expect to pay about $221 per year in wireless taxes, fees, and surcharges”
  • Washington, Nebraska and New York Pay the Highest Taxes while Idaho, Nevada and Oregon have the lowest rates
  • 51% of  US Adults are wireless only
  • Wireless consumers paid an estimated $17.1 billion in taxes, fees, and government surcharges in 2017

 

And here’s the kicker:

High competition allows for wireless prices to fall:  Average revenue per subscriber or unit (ARPU)  fell significantly from $44.65 per month to $41.50 per month since 2008.  However, the disproportionate tax rates do not allow subscribers to fully realize the overall price reductions because taxes, fees, and surcharges remain high.

  • Since 2008, average wireless monthly bills have dropped from just under $50 per month to $41.50 per month – a 17 percent reduction – while wireless taxes have increased from 15.1 percent to 18.5 percent – a 22 percent increase.
  • Many states impose a much larger tax on wireless service than the sales tax imposed on the purchase of other goods and services. Some of this highest examples include Alaska (8.8 times the normal tax rate) Nebraska (2.7 times), Pennsylvania (2.5 times).  Might want to think about moving!

Here’s What To Do: 

  • Keep your base rates low:  Bill Police recently renegotiated rates and reduced a Client’s bill by over $83,000 per month (no, that’s not a typo, that’s a bunch of green).  In doing so, taxes were decreased by over $15,000 per month because taxes are figured as a percent of the billed amount:  lower rates, lower base to tax as a percent, lower tax. So, the first BIG way to reduce taxes is to reduce your wireless spend.   Keep monitoring those bills and continuing reductions:  this will keep your taxes lower as a result.
  • Watch your Device Types with Surcharges and Rates:  In a recent Bill Police Audit it was determined that a significant portion of the incorrect billings were due to State Taxes and Surcharges by device type:
  • Tax rates are different for different device types. In Virginia, for example, Smartphones should be charged a tax rate of 4% while Phone-only Devices should be charged a rate of 3.3%.  BPI found examples of Phone-Only Devices being charged at the Smartphone Rate.
  • State surcharges were charged for a smartphone but the billed device was phone-only. This was a 40% difference in rate and can add up over many devices.

So on this Tax Day,  make your taxes work for you: go ride on some publicly provided roads, enjoy your local library and if you go celebrate too hard, maybe you’ll have some cool interaction with some fellow brothers and sisters in blue.

If you have questions about saving your company money through the auditing, optimizing, or managing of your wireless services, please click here to contact The Bill Police.

What is Actionable Intelligence? A Case Study on How to Find It and How to Use It…..

Here at Bill Police, we know you can grab a ton of valuable information from your bill which can help you every single day in your job.    We call it “Actionable Intelligence”

 

Just what is Actionable Intelligence?  It is Meaningful Knowledge You Can Do Something About.

 

Here’s a Case Study of  Valuable Actionable Intelligence you can use:

  • One of our Customers was paying for both a Smartphone and a USB Drive for a group of employees
  • During a review, Bill Police identified these users were using redundant service devices — they didn’t need 2 devices to perform these functions
  • The option was presented to combine the Smartphone and the Wifi Device into the existing Smartphone device and then activate Hotspot on that device like what is shown below:

This made everyone happy by providing several benefits:

  • Users liked having only one device instead of 2 saving them time and making their job more convenient
  • The Customer liked having to only program and manage one device
  • The Customer also liked saving about $30 per employee for that group (about $3000 per month)
  •  Bill Police liked saving the Customer hassle and Saving them money at the same time

Still Protecting Your Wireless Rights………….Yep, … Right Now………Go Get Your Bill; you’ll see or we’ll show you!!

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