There’s something kinda scammy sounding about door-to-door phone salesmen.
But that’s how Telecom Plus started out in the UK back in 1996, and they’re still around, although they look way different now.
Does this mean I’m involved?
This video explains everything:
Make sense? Either way, here’s the full review on Telecom Plus.
Overview
Originally they sold a product called the “Smart Box”, which is a box that plugs into your phone socket and then reroutes your calls through alternate networks so that you get them at a cheaper rate than you would through British Telecom.
Pretty smart.
Nowadays they’ve got a range of services from mobile to broadband to gas and electricity, even to their own pre-paid MasterCard.
And they’re rollin’ in the dough from all these products.
Total revenue in 2015 was £729.2 million. [1]
A lot of this is thanks to their leader, Charles Wigoder. Dude’s a serious UK business mogul and telecommunications entrepreneur. After single-handedly bringing Peoples Phone to the top, he moved onto Telecom Plus to take over shortly after they were founded.
He made Telecom Plus go public and got them listed on the London Stock Exchange, and then turned them into a full on network marketing company under the name of The Utility Warehouse, using an already established network of agents around the UK to start promoting their services on the ground.
Since then, Telecom Plus has gained over 500,000 customers, all through their team of 37,000 distributors. [2]
He was kind of a godsend for this company, and in 2001 that was recognized when he won the Communications category for Ernst & Young’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’. In 2009, Telecom Plus took the award for ‘Company of the Year’ at Quoted Company Awards.
They also ranked number 16 on the list of top 100 MLMs in the world. Damn, dude. [3]
That being said, they’re had a slight downturn in revenue since their big peak in 2013. But that’s normal, definitely nothing they can’t recover from.
It’s worth noting that Telecom Plus has a 20% share of Opus Energy, one of the biggest energy companies in the UK, because recent reports are suggesting that Opus Energy might be sold. [4]
However, Telecom Plus has stated pretty firmly that they have no plans to acquire Opus Energy.
Interesting, but anyway…enough with the financial deets, onto the product and compensation.
Products
The Utility Warehouse, their marketing arm, sells a handful of utility and telecommunications services…
- Landline telephone service
- Mobile phone service
- Broadband
- Gas and electricity
They were the most recommended bundle provider in 2015 according to Moneywise’s Home Finance Awards.
Phone & Broadband
They still guarantee savings on your landline calls, but who really makes landline calls anymore?
You also get unlimited downloads and a free wireless router.
Home phone service starts at £17.35. You get free evening and weekend calls to other UK landlines and free anytime calls to other Utility Warehouse customers.
They’ve also been rated Moneywise’s Most Trusted Broadband Provider. They offer…
- Standard broadband – up to 16 Mbps – £9 per month on top of landline fee
- Ultra Fibre broadband – up to 38 Mbps – £14.99 per month on top of landline fee
- Ultra + Fibre broadband – up to 76 Mbps – £19.99 per month on top of landline fee
Contracts are 18 months.
Mobile
Their mobile contracts start at £8 per month, which is pretty crazy, but you don’t get much for that.
However, your price is guaranteed not to rise during your contract period. And you can switch to a different price plan at any time, even if your contract isn’t up.
Plans are…
- 100 MB data and 250 minutes is £8 per month
- 1 GB data and 500 minutes is £11 per month
- 2 GB data and 1,000 minutes is £14 per month
- 3 GB data and 1,500 minutes is £17 per month
- 4-6 GB data and unlimited minutes is £22 per month
All plans have unlimited texts.
They sell mobile phones as well, and you can get them on a monthly repayment plan.
Energy
They’ve won both Best Customer Service and Best Value for Money for gas & electricity from Moneywise.
That’s because they guarantee to beat the cheapest variable tariffs from the ‘big 6’ energy companies.
They’ve also got a handful of bundles that pair multiple services for savings.
- Gold Energy saves up to £379 a year for pairing phone & broadband + energy
- Gold Talk saves up to £398 a year for pairing phone & broadband + mobile
- Double Gold saves up to £682 a year for pairing phone & broadband + energy + mobile
Opportunity
It’s pretty hard to find any solid info on their compensation plan on their website without signing up.
It costs £100 to sign up, which is a little steep, but there’s a 90-day starter bonus of £100 if you get three qualifying customers within your first 90 days.
They offer TBB bonuses of £50 as a starter bonus and £100 if you can get 50 customers in your first 12 months.
Distributors also get a matching CGB bonus on the first three customers one of their direct recruits gets face-to-face during their first 90 days that could add up to over £100 extra.
They’ve recently increased their personal CVC rates…
- Landline customers – CVC rate of 6%
- Mobile customers – CVC rate of 5%
- Broadband customers – CVC rate of 4%
- Energy customers – CVC rate of 1-2.5%
If you can really move up in rank, you get a higher commission rate. Which you’re gonna need, cuz to be honest this commission rate isn’t that impressive. [5]
Your downline is paid down to 8-14 levels depending on your rank, which is pretty deep, but downline CVC isn’t high either. It ranges from 8-13 pence per eligible service they’re customers use. Pretty unusual to pay a fixed amount rather than a percentage.
They’ve even got maximum monthly potential earnings, so they cap how much you can earn at anywhere from £2,000 to £83,333 per month, depending on your rank. Chances are you won’t make that much anyway.
Recap
Their services are obviously a good deal for customers – they’ve won more awards than an over-achieving high school athlete.
But their commission plan is odd, confusing, and unclear. The parts that are laid out aren’t looking too good.
—
I’m not a Telecom Plus hater at all. But there are certainly better opportunities out there if you are trying to generate some side income.
If you like automated ways to build passive income, there are better ways.
(and you can trash those old MLM habits, too)
via http://mlmcompanies.org/telecom-plus/
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