Wireless and Wired Updates 2020-09-18

Dear Resellers, Dealers and Agents,

With COVID-19 still ravaging the nation (and indeed, the world), fires raging throughout the western United States, and Hurricanes in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, we hope all of you are exercising necessary precautions and staying safe through this time.

Our main office in Tucson is operating at about 2/3rds capacity, however, a substantial percentage of our personnel are still working from home - as are the staff in California, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey and New Zealand.

As some know, this year we were planning on opening 2 additional offices on 2 additional continents as part of our global expansion and to help us maintain a true 24-hour presence, but due to travel restrictions, this has been delayed.

Support:

Phone Support

We hear you, loud and clear!

With an influx in business over the past couple of months, we realize that sometimes getting us on the phone isn't easy. We are in the process of hiring additional support staff to help cover trouble tickets and answer phones. As part of this expansion, we will also be adding bi-lingual agents for Spanish and potentially other languages. Look forward to seeing additional names popping up in your email very soon.

We also have our new phone system nearly complete, but with better call queuing and routing plus more features, we are anticipating that this too will help our support team do their jobs more effectively. Once we have it the way we want it, we will begin moving PBX customers from the old system to the new system as well.

In the meantime, if you are needing to email any particular support person, please ensure that you cc: support on the email as well, just in case one of the other team members is able to pick up your issue more quickly.

Activation Issues

We are seeing an influx of duplicate SIM entries. When we get duplicate SIMs, it causes unnecessary delays and we do not want you or your customers to wait for their service to be active. Our team does their best to double check anything that comes through our system, but this effort should be made on both ends.

To ensure that your activation requests go through without any issues, please double check any activation entries are made with the correct SIM for each line. If you get a notifcation that you have entered a duplicate SIM and you are adamant that this is not the case, please contact our support team so we can go through and confirm these mistakes with you. This effort is greatly apprectiated!

Reseller deposits and credits

A gentle reminder: under the new wireless billing terms in the amended MSA (which by now everybody should have signed and returned to us), due to the prepaid nature of our services, deposits are required to be on-hand in order to ensure that lines can be activated and renewed as needed. The new version of the billing area to track reseller invoices, payments, and credits has largely been completed and has been implemented for most agents, it is due to become available in Phoenix to all remaining agents by September 30th.

Please ensure that you have sufficient credit on your account to process upcoming renewals in your account by Friday, as this is when we are proactively sending the list of guaranteed renewals to the carriers for advance renewal processing. While we are still processing renewals on a daily/as-needed basis, due to the prepaid nature of all wireless services, you still need to ensure that there is sufficient credit on your account in advance. if a line is due for renewal but isn't paid for in advance of the renewal date, you risk the line going down until billing is resolved, and, runs the risk of being lost permanently! ISPWN can not be held responsible for lines which go down due to credit issues.

Phoenix developments

A lot of new automation is currently being implemented in Phoenix which should make our billing easier to manage and easier for us (and you) to audit billing and get out to you in a timely manner (automatically).

As mentioned above, a new billing area is being rolled out to each agent to help keep track of your available balance, as well as being able to see a record of all invoices and payments made. Your balance *must* show as being in credit so as to ensure that we can process activations and/or renewals for you.

New Dealer Portals

A new version of our dealer portal is nearing release!

Along with the existing features, it includes a lot of new functionality including new support ticket system (which now allows tickets and responses to be recorded by email), better customer credit tracking (and we're working both on company credit tracking and company to customer credit transfers), automated PDF invoicing and customer statements (complete with custom templates), social media posting as well as a myriad of other features which I personally am very excited about. Oh yeah, and you can hook this backend in to (just about any) website with some drag-and-drop code for more automated subscriptions!

Dealers on the existing portal will stay there and will continue to be supported. There is no upgrade/migration path at this time, but we are working on a procedure for it. Due to the new system being entirely different from the old one, upgrade fees may apply.

Credit card payments

Due to our merchant service provider (both our main and backups) holding on to funds for unreasonable lengths of time, we have suspended the processing of credit-card payments for the time being. We are exploring alternative methods of payment, but for the time being, we are recommending Check/ACH and wire payments as the primary methods.

Wireless - USA:

New GSMA plans

As posted in Phoenix, the 400GB plan on GSMA which was originally scheduled to be discontinued on June 30 (but was then extended until August 15) ended up being finally discontinued on the night of the 11th, and has been replaced by a new plan which requires the purchase of a pre-configured device.

The main benefit of this new plan is (other than quicker activations and more effective tools on our end to help with support), that it comes with a larger soft-cap of 500GB. For this cellular plan (and this cellular plan only), we will also be using the traditional pro-rated billing cycle for the time being - all other services will be on the new 30-day billing cycle.

At this time, the carrier has restricted activation of this plan to the preconfigured wireless router available under "Wireless Routers" on the "Order Hardware" page and must be ordered through ISPWN. We are working with the carriers to allow agents to procure the devices through other channels and expand the programme to other devices, and all devices must be brand new, never before used on AT&T. If we are able to open up this plan to additional device types, we will not be allowing devices that have been used with other resellers. We will update all agents if and when this becomes an option.

GSMA Legacy 400GB plan support issues

There have been issues with the GSMA portals over the past week which have caused issues and delays with normally simple procedures such as SIM swaps. We are working through this but in some cases we may simply have to recommend updating to the new plan.

There have also been many cases where agents have not had sufficient credit on their accounts which has resulted in renews not being submitted for processing. It is imperative that a deposit remains on file to ensure that your renews are processed on time - we recommend ensuring that you fund your account on Thursday by ACH with an amount is sufficient to cover the next week, so that your funds are on file no later than Friday so that we can preemptively renew any and all accounts that are due for renewal over the following week and will help avoid service interruption. A new feature is being made available in Phoenix to help agents track of their balances.

GSMT/CDMAS merger issues

There have been some minor issues with APIs and such during the last few weeks as the merging of GSMT and CDMAS systems has been completed. This has resulted in (relatively) short downtimes of ordering and support systems but otherwise has been relatively stable. We have also seen reports that speeds in some areas have been slower than they were pre-merger. Without going in to the finer details of wireless transmission and coverage, the easiest way to describe the reason for this is a lot of new users suddenly utilizing existing spectrum (while some of CDMAS spectrum is being re-allocated and/or unused spectrum is being allocated for use with 5G).

As of September 1, we now have access to a secondary billing platform within GSMT which seems to be allowing us to activate lines at the pace we would normally expect to be able to.

GSMT rumors

Over the past few weeks, we've been hearing rumors about GSMT shutting down resellers and discontinuing plans as of September 14. So far, we've not been able to substantiate any of this and our representatives aren't aware of any changes coming to the plans that we are offering, HOWEVER, we are acutely aware that this situation could change and anything could happen at any time. If the situation changes, we will alert people as early as possible.

In hearing the rumors, and having seen a number of other resellers shut down during the month, we have seen a corresponding influx in demand for GSMT services, and as a result, we are exercising extra caution when it comes to larger orders.

If you find yourself with the opportunity to procure a large number of subscribers, the best bet is to send us the list of IMEIs, MDNs and SIMs that you want transferred over, so that we can go to the carrier and request a change of billing responsibility. If they allow this, we will take the lines on. If they say no, you will need to issue not just new SIM cards, but new devices as well. This helps us avoid the possibility of transferring devices which have been blacklisted. The network has made us aware of a number of resellers who have been or are being shut down and have advised us that we can not re-utilize the devices that were or are currently in service. Note: If we receive too many activation requests for devices which have already been flagged, they may ask us to shut down your entire account.

We have reached out to some senior members of management at the GSMT network with a proposal to become more involved with their "Home Broadband" and 5G data-only device rollouts and will keep our resellers updated as best we can, and we are anticipating news surrounding this in the coming week, and are also talking with other MVNOs about connectivity options as a potential alternative should the need arise.

New CDMAV plans

The CDMAV "grandfathered" unlimited plan is no longer available to order. A new plan with a 500GB soft-cap has been introduced, and we are currently working on a whitelisted-device basis - the device compatibility list can be found at https://ispwn.com/faq/datadevices/cdmav

Devices not on this list can NOT be activated or used on this plan until further notice. If you want us to test your chosen device for compatibility, you can send one to us for testing - if it works, we'll add it to the list.

New IOT and custom per minute/SMS/MB plans

In our June 8 newsletter, we talked about limited voice/text/data, data-only and IOT plans which will soon be made available. We're getting closer to launching this product, and anticipate that it will be available on GSMT first, CDMAV second and GSMA third. We are working on some pre-configured numbers but plans on some networks will be customizable down to the minute/SMS/MB. At the moment, the easiest pricing model will involve creating plans in 2 parts: we think it will be something like a $5 line charge + usage (minutes, SMS and MB respectively), which will most likely be around about $0.02 per minute/SMS/MB respectively for US data, and most likely anywhere from $0.035 to $0.15 per MB for international data (subject to location and volume).

Starlink

We look forward to announcing some exciting news concerning Starlink before the end of 2020.

Wireless - International:

International Cellular Services

As mentioned in our June 8 newsletter, International LTE Data is about to become available but to top it off, International bandwidth and wired Internet services in a significant number of countries (details will be shared as and when they become available).

We are also working on traditional limited cellular voice, text and data plans in several European countries along with voice and data in Latin America, Oceania and parts of Africa, Asia. We haven't yet released this pricing, but we expect it to be available by the end of September. At this time, we are expecting to start off simple with a few pre-configured price plans which will come with varying amounts of data according to the country before we release custom plans.

Japan

日本では無制限のワイヤレスデータプランをご利用いただけます。価格は約3400円から。有線サービスも卸売りで利用できるように取り組んでいます。日本での事業を希望する場合は、日本法人を設立することをお勧めします。

We have an unlimited wireless data plan available in Japan. Prices start at about 3400JPY. We are working on making wired services available at wholesale as well. If you wish to operate natively in Japan, we recommend opening a Japanese entity.

Finland

Meillä on tällä hetkellä 50 Gt: n yhdistetty tietosuunnitelma Euroopassa, mutta mielestämme tämä ei sovi kovin hyvin markkinoiden kanssa ja pyrimme tarjoamaan parempia palveluja Suomessa - sekä langallisia että langattomia vaihtoehtoja. Jos haluat toimia kotimaassa Suomessa tai muualla EU: ssa, suosittelemme avaamaan eurooppalaisen yksikön (missä tahansa Euroopan maassa) helpottamaan asioita. Puhepalvelut ja hinnoittelu ovat käytettävissä syyskuun loppuun mennessä.

We currently have a 50GB pooled data plan in Europe but we feel this does not align very well with the market and are working toward making better services available in Finland - both wired and wireless options. If you wish to operate natively in Finland, or anywhere else in the EU, we strongly recommend opening a European entity (in any European country) to make things easier. Voice services and pricing will be available by the end of September.

Russia

В настоящее время у нас есть тарифный план на 50 ГБ данных, но мы считаем, что он не очень хорошо согласуется с рынком, и мы работаем над тем, чтобы сделать в России более качественные услуги, как проводные, так и беспроводные. Если вы хотите работать в России, вам понадобится русский Как только у нас будет больше информации, мы подтвердим детали.

We currently have a 50GB data plan but we feel this does not align very well with the market and are working toward making better services available in Russia, both wired and wireless options. If you wish to operate natively in Russia, you will need a Russian entity. Once we have more information, we will confirm the details.

India

हमारे पास वर्तमान में भारत में 3 वायरलेस डेटा प्लान उपलब्ध हैं, वर्तमान में $ 30 या मौजूदा विनिमय दर पर INR2,200 के लिए पेश किया जा रहा है। हम नए वायर्ड विकल्पों पर भी काम कर रहे हैं। भारत में मूल रूप से काम करने के लिए आपको एक टेलीकॉम लाइसेंस और एक भारतीय इकाई (हम इसमें आपकी मदद कर सकते हैं) की आवश्यकता होगी। यदि आप भारत जाने वाले लोगों को सेवाएं देना चाहते हैं, तो यह लागू नहीं होता है।

We currently have 3 wireless data plans available in India, currently being offered for $30 or about INR2,200 at the current exchange rate. We are also working on new wired options. In order to operate natively in India you may need a Telecom license and an Indian entity (we can help you with this). If you wish to offer services to people travelling to India, this does not apply.

Mexico

Una vez que la pandemia muestre signos de desaceleración, hemos estado haciendo planes para abrir tiendas en México, con una variedad de opciones para los mercados de Estados Unidos y México.

Once the pandemic shows signs of slowing down, we have been making plans to open up stores in Mexico, with a variety of options for both the United States and Mexican markets.

Wired:

New Spectrum plans

There have been updates to Spectrum rate plans - rather than 100 and 300mbit/s or 200 and 400mbit/s (subject to market), with new plan speeds being 200mbit/s, 600mbit/s and gigabit, with pricing available for single-installs, 25+ install projects (down from 50+) and account transfers. The new plans are on the wired rate-card and have already been added in to Phoenix.

New Wired carriers - North America

ISPWN will soon be introducing new wired options from minor carriers, cable companies and LECs across the US and Canada to allow us previously unprecedented coverage throughout the US and Canada.

New Wired carriers - Rest of the World

ISPWN has also been working to introduce wired services in various countries on nearly every continent. At this time we are anticipating being able to begin operating wired broadband services in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, along with fiber connectivity globally. We don't have rack-rates for every country just yet, but if you have interest in a particular country or countries, please let us know and we'll get you the information you need on a per-request basis.

For information about these or any of the other countries we have been rolling out services in, or if you want to discuss specific countries, please get in touch with Mathew.

For the latest rate-card, please refer to the email you first received when you requested information (or became a dealer) - there is a "permalink" which will always link you to the latest version. If you don't have the link or can't find it, please let us know!

If you have any other questions, please reach out to any of our billing or sales staff.