Corporate Traveler with a $125,000 Cell Phone Bill

In what ended up as a modern-day corporate cautionary tale, an employee of a major American corporation set off on a business trip across Europe. Upon return, the employee was notified of an AT&T bill totaling nearly $125,000.

While traveling through 3 countries from Spain, the UK and Germany, the employee used his Apple iPad to stream videos. Unfortunately, the SIM card was transferred from his iPhone to his iPad but did not carry the same data rate plan.

The cellular streaming of video on the iPad was 68 gigabytes of data usage in one month, but his iPad allowed for just 2 gigabytes of international data, so he quickly went into overage.

Fortunately, his company uses mindWireless to manage and optimize corporate mobile plans. mindWireless automatically detected the shocking bill and developed an action plan. Knowing that the astounding bill could have easily been avoided, the experts at mindWireless moved quickly to help resolve the issue.

After two months of discussion, mindWireless got AT&T to reduce the charges by 99.9%, with the user paying just $120 after credits. This was the amount that would have been due if the employee had been using the proper iPad plan for his international corporate travel.

“This was a tough lesson for him and his company, but it is a great example of why employees must be made aware of available options, and why making use of these options is so critical,” said Kevin Whitehurst, Co-CEO / Co-Founder of mindWireless.

Talking to his mindWireless wireless support group or the carrier ahead of his trip, he would have been able to switch to an unlimited global data plan for iPad suited to his travel needs. There is, of course, a cost associated with adding an international travel feature.

For leading brands, mindWireless reduces wireless expenses significantly, drives leading-edge mobile strategy and delivers pain-free device provision. Read our mindWireless white paper for best practice when negotiating corporate contracts with your wireless carrier.