A small dealer came to us to quote on his connectivity business. He had a mature base of leased line customers who were putting him under pressure and the incumbent (and previously enthusiastic) supplier inexplicably refused to return calls and emails. One of their customers was paying around £2000 per month for a 2Mb leased line and we could supply a 20Mb replacement for £200 per month. We would be making a 20% margin on this, putting our cost at around £160. The ISP they were partnering with had not passed on the wholesale price reduction and was probably making around £1800 per month on the 2Mb service - which had been installed for a few years. If they could delay the customer’s decision to move away by a month this would be the equivalent of nearly four years margin at the new price. You can probably see why they might refuse to speak to the end customer or the dealer. Of course the dealer would also be making less commission on the replacement service too but at least he would retain a customer that was also buying several other products and services from him.
Nobody knows more about the true cost of leased lines and the myriad of suppliers than the people at Jola. As an end user of course you want to be told the best price and the best products for your business. It might also be useful to know where you should take a fixed price and a longer term contract and where you might be better off paying a higher monthly rental in return for the freedom to switch whenever you want to. Jola’s Communications Audit is free to organisations with fewer than 100 staff. We have access to all the major networks, we choose best-in-class products (because we don’t want to spend all our time fixing things) and we think we get the best prices. Either way we promise to give you the best advice even if this is to stay with your current supplier.
