Going All E-Bill
Companies like BT that are tightly regulated because they must provide services that are accessible to every part of the community have greater challenges than some of their less regulated peers. For
example, iffgaff, a UK-based MVNO, provides a mixture of incentives, promotions, forums and packages
that enable customers to receive free or virtually free phone service in exchange for contributing to
forums, signing up a few friends, and staying involved. In the U.S., Atlanta-based CBeyond is a next-gen
provider focused on the small business market. Neither company even offers an option to receive paper
bills.
But customers’ and service providers’ motivations to opt-in-to or offer E-billing typically differ across
cultures. Money is the ultimate driver, and the measurable savings that can be achieved through E-
billing penetration are significant. Deutsche Telekom, for example, estimates this savings at between
1 and 2 percent of its total revenue; DT’s revenue from its operations within Germany alone equalled
€25.1 billion in 2010.
German citizens are known to be highly conscious of environmental issues and the need to be ‘green.’
E-billing is promoted heavily from this point of view in Germany. Deutsche Telekom is passionate about
sustainability. Its website broadcasts facts such as the 13.5 million kilograms of CO2 and 500 million
sheets of paper it has saved thanks to e-billing.
Juerg Haselhoff, vice president of bill presentment for Deutsche Telekom, explains that the “reduction
in land and resource use and human toxicity is significant” as are the “39,000 reams of paper you save
for every million bills.” He places the resulting billing cost savings related to e-billing between 60 and 80
percent. With Deutsche Telekom, and its European counterparts, facing intense price competition – the
price of smartphones fell 50 percent in the past year alone – it’s no wonder that e-billing is back on the
agenda. It may be presented as a feel-good, go-green initiative, but ultimately it’s about the bottom line.
