How to Reduce Business Telecommunications Costs: Phones, Mobiles, Internet and NBN
Most businesses can reduce telecommunications costs by auditing every service they pay for, cancelling unused lines and mobiles, and moving to plans that match current usage. Consolidating voice onto modern platforms and right-sizing NBN business connections often deliver the larger savings.
Written and reviewed by The Technology Office · Independent technology advisory
Key takeaways
- Telecommunications bills accumulate forgotten services: old landlines, data SIMs, unused mobiles and duplicate internet connections that keep billing for years.
- Mobile fleets are usually the biggest opportunity. Pooled data, plan right-sizing and a clear policy on who gets a company phone all reduce cost.
- Voice can often be consolidated onto platforms you already use, such as Microsoft Teams Phone, removing separate phone systems and lines.
- Match NBN and business internet services to real needs, including redundancy for critical sites, rather than paying for speed or service levels you do not use.
The short answer
Businesses usually reduce telecommunications costs fastest by auditing every service they are billed for and cancelling what is no longer used, then moving the rest onto plans and platforms that fit how people work today. The biggest opportunities tend to be the mobile fleet, legacy phone lines and systems, and internet services that were never revisited after the NBN rollout or a change of office. Renegotiating with carriers works best once you know exactly what you need.
Why telco costs are easy to overlook
Telecommunications bills are long, coded and spread across services: fixed lines, mobiles, data SIMs, internet, phone systems, call costs and add-ons. They often sit with the office manager or finance rather than IT, and they rarely get reviewed after setup. Offices move, staff leave, alarm monitoring changes, but the services keep billing.
The structure of Australian telecommunications has also changed substantially. The NBN has replaced most legacy copper services, many businesses have moved to cloud phone systems or Microsoft Teams calling, and mobile plans have shifted towards pooled data. Contracts signed years ago may no longer reflect any of this.
Step 1: Build a complete service inventory
Collect the last three to six months of bills from every carrier and provider, then list each service:
- Service number or identifier, type and location.
- Who or what uses it.
- Plan, monthly cost and any add-ons.
- Contract end date and early termination costs.
- Usage over the period.
Then reconcile against reality. Match mobiles to the current staff list, fixed lines to equipment that still exists, and internet services to sites you still occupy. Services with no identifiable user or purpose are candidates for cancellation, after confirming they do not support something critical such as an alarm, lift phone or EFTPOS terminal.
Step 2: Right-size the mobile fleet
Mobiles are often the largest and most dynamic part of the bill.
- Remove leavers' services or port numbers to colleagues where client continuity matters.
- Review usage per service. Many users sit on plans far larger, or occasionally smaller, than they need.
- Consider pooled or shared data plans so heavy and light users balance each other out.
- Set a clear eligibility policy for who receives a company phone and who receives an allowance.
- Standardise handsets and decide whether to buy outright or finance through plans, comparing total cost over the device's life.
- Manage devices properly. Mobile device management protects business data and makes reallocating phones quicker.
Step 3: Modernise voice
Many businesses still pay for a phone system, a maintenance contract, a set of lines and call charges, on top of a collaboration platform that can already make calls. Options include:
| Current setup | Modern alternative | Considerations |
|---|---|---|
| On-premises phone system with maintenance contract | Cloud-hosted phone system | Removes hardware and maintenance; check call-centre features |
| Separate phone system plus Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Teams Phone with a calling plan or operator connect | Licensing cost per user; reception and hunt group needs |
| Multiple fixed lines per site | SIP or cloud voice with shared capacity | Number porting, emergency calling, power failure planning |
| Desk phones for every user | Softphones on laptops and mobiles, desk phones only where needed | User preference and headset costs |
If you move to Teams calling, review licensing carefully alongside your other Microsoft plans; our guide to reducing Microsoft 365 licensing costs covers how to avoid over-licensing.
Make sure any new voice service supports emergency calls with correct location information, and plan for power or internet outages at sites where phones are safety-critical.
Step 4: Right-size internet and NBN services
For each site, ask what connectivity is genuinely needed:
- Speed. Match tiers to how many people work on site and what they do. Cloud-heavy teams need more upload capacity than many realise.
- Service level. Business-grade NBN options can include enhanced fault restoration and business support; NBN Co's business information outlines the types available. Pay for faster restoration where downtime is expensive, not everywhere.
- Redundancy. Critical sites may justify a backup connection, often a 4G or 5G service, rather than a premium primary service alone.
- Enterprise ethernet or fibre. Appropriate for larger or data-intensive sites, but worth checking whether it is still needed if headcount or usage has dropped.
- Duplicates. Relocated or consolidated offices often leave old services running.
Step 5: Renegotiate or go to market
Once you know what you need, you have a clear specification to take to your current carrier and to competitors. Time this against contract end dates and early termination costs, and look at total cost rather than headline plan prices: handset repayments, add-ons, excess usage and support all matter. Our guide on how to renegotiate IT contracts applies equally to telecommunications agreements.
If you have a dispute with a provider that you cannot resolve directly, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman handles complaints from small businesses as well as consumers.
Step 6: Keep it under control
- Assign a single owner for telecommunications across all sites and carriers.
- Link mobile and service changes to the joiner-mover-leaver process.
- Review bills monthly for new charges, excess usage and unexpected services.
- Keep a register of contract end dates.
How The Technology Office reduces telco costs
The Technology Office reviews telecommunications as part of the full technology cost base, not in isolation. We audit every service, connect each one to a user, site or purpose, and recommend changes that are tied to specific bill lines and contract dates. We are not a reseller or carrier agent, so we earn no commissions on plans or handsets, and our advice is shaped only by what your business needs.
We make sure changes protect critical services, including emergency calling, site security and customer-facing lines, and we work with organisations of every size and industry across Australia. Telco reviews are a common part of our IT cost optimisation engagements, alongside vendor management support when it is time to negotiate.
Frequently asked questions
How can a small business reduce its phone bill?
Audit every service on the bill, cancel lines and mobiles no longer in use, move mobiles to plans that match actual usage, and consider replacing a traditional phone system with a cloud or Teams-based service. Then renegotiate or compare carriers before your contract term ends.
Do businesses need an NBN business plan rather than a home plan?
Business-grade NBN services generally offer features such as faster fault restoration options, static IP addresses and business support that home plans do not. Whether they are worth it depends on how critical connectivity is to each site and what backup you have.
Is BYOD cheaper than company-provided mobile phones?
Bring-your-own-device with an allowance can reduce handset and plan costs, but it introduces security, privacy and management considerations. Many organisations use a mix: company phones for roles with heavy use or security needs, and an allowance for others, with device management and clear policies in place.
What telecommunications services are commonly forgotten on business bills?
Common examples include legacy landlines for fax or alarms, data SIMs in old devices, mobiles belonging to former staff, duplicate internet services at relocated sites, and call packs or add-ons no longer used.
Sources and further reading
- nbn for business — NBN Co
Mentioned services
These service and regional NSW pages expand on the topics covered in this article.
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