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Unethical practices in telecoms channel called out

Hidden fees, lengthy contracts and a lack of transparency should inspire government action, argues one industry player

Simon Quicke
By
Published: 22 Apr 2025 2:45

The government has been urged to increase legislation around telecoms suppliers to clamp down on unethical practices that hurt users and undermine the integrity of the wider channel.

Issues around pricing, with a lack of transparency that leads to hidden fees, are often accompanied by suppliers demanding users sign long contracts that are difficult to walk away from.

For Juliet Moran, founder and technical director of Telephone Systems .Cloud, the frustration has boiled over and led her to call for increased intervention in the industry to protect users.

She added that those using tricks such as hidden pricing and lengthy contracts were giving the entire industry a bad name and undermining customer confidence.

“Unethical pricing policies and dodgy business practices give the whole sector a bad name,” said Moran. “Our company, Telephone Systems .Cloud, is committed to ethical pricing, but many in the telecoms sector still operate rogue pricing policies.”

She said the answer was for the government to set out legislation that would curb excesses and eradicate unethical practices.

“We believe the time has come for new legislation around contracts and hidden terms,” said Moran. “Customers need to be confident they are getting a fair deal and aren’t going to be hit in the wallet by unexpected fees. Lengthy contracts with hidden terms that make it extremely hard to exit should be abolished, as should deals which entice new customers with offers such as free phones, only to discover you have to pay 20 times as much later for the phones if you ever want to leave, making exiting the contract impossible.”

Pricing structures

There have been efforts in recent years to provide clearer pricing structures, often driven by the challenges users have experienced costing their cloud operations, but Moran felt more could be done.

There was also criticism of the tactic of using discounted deals to lure a customer into a contract which then hit them with hidden fees over an extended contract period, with impossible-to-achieve exit clauses.

“We have had businesses on the phone to us in tears when they realise they are paying 10 times the amount they could be paying, crippling their business,” she said. “But they cannot get out of the contract, as they didn’t read the small print before signing up.

“Many are very shocked when they try to leave only to find out the hidden terms explaining they have to pay for those free phones when they leave at inflated prices, or that they simply already rolled over into another seven-year contract without realising,” said Moran.

She said that given the impact on the bottom line of getting trapped in a long contract, there were further reasons why the government might want to intervene to help customers.

“With the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and the rising costs of goods and services businesses are struggling right now, and the government has a role to play in ensuring more is done to remove tactics that are designed to entrap customers,” said Moran.

The vast majority of the channel are looking to build a “trusted advisor” relationship with customers where they gain repeated business over many years based on positive results and high levels of satisfaction. Moran’s comments underline that there is a minority taking a different approach in the telecoms channel.

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