In a LinkedIn post Andrew Dickinson, MD of Jola, commented, "The principle the industry has adopted with regard to telecoms fraud is that we all share the cost, and nobody profits. When SMEs fail and Ethernet contracts are cancelled, some parties have revenue (cancellation fees) but no cost. This is not fair."
For the scheme to be effective the all members of the supply chain MUST be involved. At the moment the carriers, namely BT Wholesale, Vodafone, Virgin Media Business and TalkTalk Business, would continue to hold aggregators and ultimately partners to contractual terms in the event of an end user liquidation. These very terms could also send partners into administration and the Channel could see many companies fall by the wayside unable to pay their own suppliers.
Responding to a LinkedIn post, Tony Burton, MD at TMB Systems commented, "We have been requesting discounts and payment holidays on behalf of our hotel clients this week. Whilst the carriers are willing to discuss payment holidays they seem very reluctant to discuss discounting their services in the short term. We do need to keep lobbying as discounts are what really matter to hotels whilst they are shut and by all of the supplier channel sharing the financial impact it will enable our customers to survive. The carriers need to put their end customers before their shareholders for once!"
The message from the market is clear. Lobby your suppliers NOW!