Most business owners have never read their telecom bill. Not really read it. They glance at the total, sign the check, and move on. That is how carriers like it.
Here is a 30-minute process that catches the three things worth catching: billing errors, services you stopped using, and off-contract charges that quietly reset every year.
You need one thing to start. Your most recent bill. The full PDF, not the one-page summary they email you. Log into the portal and download the itemized version. It is usually 8 to 15 pages.
Minutes 0 to 5: Find your contract end date
Open the bill and look for a line that says "term end", "contract expiration", or "service commitment". It is usually on page 2 or 3. Write down the date.
If your contract ended more than 90 days ago, you are paying month to month rates. Those are almost always higher than what a new customer pays. This is the single biggest source of overspend we see. A dentist in Charlotte was 14 months past her contract end. Her rate had drifted up $73 a month without a single notification.
If you cannot find a contract date on the bill, call the carrier and ask. Get it in writing.
Minutes 5 to 15: Line up the charges
Get a highlighter. Go through every line item and put it in one of three buckets.
Bucket one is the service itself. Internet, phone lines, static IPs, managed router. This is what you agreed to pay for.
Bucket two is taxes and real government fees. State sales tax, FCC USF, 911 surcharges. These are legit. You cannot negotiate them.
Bucket three is everything else. This is where the money hides. Look for:
- Broadcast TV Surcharge (not a real fee, straight Comcast revenue)
- Regulatory Recovery Fee (carrier invented, negotiable)
- Network Access Fee (carrier invented, negotiable)
- Equipment rental for a modem you own
- Static IP charges for IPs you do not use
- Voice lines nobody has picked up in a year
Every line in bucket three is a candidate to cut. Not all of them will go, but every one is worth a question.
Minutes 15 to 25: Check the math
Look at your monthly recurring charge, the MRC. That is the base price for your internet or phone service. Now compare it to what the carrier sells the same speed for today, to a new customer, in your market.
You can find this two ways. Call the sales line and ask for a quote as if you were shopping. Or check our market data for cities like Atlanta, Chicago, or Dallas.
If your MRC is more than 15 percent above the new-customer rate for the same speed, you are overpaying. The gap is what a renegotiation should close.
Also count your static IPs. Bills often list 4 or 8 IPs when the business is using 1. Each unused IP is $5 to $15 a month. A restaurant group in Tampa had 13 static IPs across three locations. They used 4.
Minutes 25 to 30: Write the three calls
By now you should have a short list. Sort it into three actions.
Call one is the fake fees. Ask for the Broadcast TV Surcharge and any Regulatory Recovery Fee to be removed or credited. Some reps will do it. Some will not. It is worth 10 minutes.
Call two is the unused services. Cancel the IPs you do not need, the voice lines that are dead, the modem rental if you bought your own. This is usually a chat or a form.
Call three is the renegotiation. Save this for 90 days before your contract end date. That is the window where the carrier has the most reason to move. Call earlier and they will say "we cannot do anything yet". Call later and you have already renewed.
That is the whole audit. Thirty minutes, one highlighter, three phone calls.
If you want a second set of eyes, upload your bill and we will mark it up for you. Free, no signup.
Related reading
→ See a sample bill markup → How Comcast bills actually work → What fair internet pricing looks like in your city → The 90-day renewal window and how to use it