Yemen Telecom Revenue Restart: Billing Integrity, Leakage Control, and Fair Collections

Part 3 of a Bridge Connect mini-series on post-conflict telecoms (spotlight on Yemen)

Why this is a board agenda item in Yemen

Yemen telecom analyses emphasize the sector’s role as a key pillar of the economy and public revenue. In a recovery phase, leadership has to assume two truths at once:

• Service instability reduces recharge and increases churn, and

• Billing instability destroys trust and triggers reputational risk (especially if customers feel overcharged during hardship).

A credible revenue restart is therefore about integrity + fairness.

Executive summary

In the first 30–60 days, prioritize:

1. Billing configuration lockdown (stop uncontrolled changes)

2. “Rated vs billed” reconciliation (quantify the gap weekly)

3. Top-10 leakage fixes (not a long wishlist)

4. Dealer/top-up integrity (protect distribution and success rates)

5. Enterprise invoice discipline (fast disputes, predictable terms)

6. Customer protection (clear dispute paths and transparent policies)

Step 1: Lock down billing and product configuration (Week 1)

Revenue problems multiply when pricing tables, product definitions, and promotions change without governance.

Immediate actions

• Freeze tariff changes except those approved by a small pricing committee

• Restrict production access (who can change rating tables, when, and how)

• Require change logs and rollback procedures

• Create a “golden catalog” of active products and prices

This is not bureaucracy; it is how you prevent invisible leakage.

Step 2: Establish the “one number” revenue integrity metric (Week 2)

Your leadership team needs a single, comparable metric:

Revenue Integrity Index (weekly)

• Total usage rated (from mediation/CDRs)

• Total billed (in billing)

• Total collected (cash-in)

Track the conversion funnel:Usage → Rated → Billed → Collected

When you see where the drop happens, you know what to fix.

Step 3: Fix the top leakage sources first (Weeks 2–6)

Leakage can be technical, commercial, or operational.

Common high-impact leakage clusters

• Unbilled usage from mediation failures or dropped CDRs

• Incorrect rating tables (especially after product changes)

• Promotion misconfiguration (discounts applied incorrectly)

• Dealer fraud / reconciliation gaps

• SIM lifecycle control failures (inactive SIMs generating costs)

• Enterprise contract drift (services delivered but not invoiced)

• High refund/adjustment volumes due to complaint spikes

Rule for recovery phases: pick the top 10 and fix them end-to-end.

Step 4: Stabilize recharge/top‑up success and distribution

If customers cannot reliably recharge, revenue collapses regardless of network improvements.

Operational controls

• Monitor recharge success rate daily (with root cause codes)

• Reconcile dealer balances weekly

• Enforce standard settlement cycles and audit exceptions

• Reduce manual overrides (they become leakage)

Customer fairnessIf a technical error created incorrect deductions or failed bundles:

• refund quickly and transparently,

• publish a simple policy (avoid case-by-case confusion).

Step 5: Enterprise billing discipline (Weeks 3–8)

Enterprise revenue is often the highest-margin and most recoverable in the short term—if you treat it like a managed portfolio.

Enterprise restart actions

• Assign named account owners to top 50 accounts

• Confirm contracted services vs delivered services (one-page per account)

• Invoice on time; resolve disputes in <10 business days

• Offer service credits through defined rules (not ad hoc negotiations)

Step 6: Collections without backlash (segment, don’t intimidate)

Collections improves when you match approach to customer reality.

Segmented collections

• High-value customers: proactive support + retention offers

• Mass prepaid: stabilize service + simplify recharge + prevent negative surprises

• SMEs: predictable bundles + clear usage alerts

• Enterprise: invoice discipline + dispute resolution cadence

Avoid aggressive enforcement that drives churn. In recovery phases, you win long-term by rebuilding trust.

KPIs the CFO should track weekly

• Rated vs billed variance (%)

• Unbilled usage volume

• Recharge success rate (%)

• Adjustments/refunds as % of revenue

• Complaints per 10,000 subs + resolution time

• DSO (enterprise) and aging buckets

• Net cash collected vs forecast

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ملخص تنفيذي (Arabic synopsis)

• نجاح “إعادة تشغيل الإيرادات” يعتمد على النزاهة + الإنصاف مع العملاء.

• ثبّتوا تعريفات الباقات والأسعار، وقلّلوا التغييرات غير المنضبطة في أنظمة الفوترة.

• اعتمدوا مقياساً أسبوعياً واضحاً: الاستخدام → التسعير → الفوترة → التحصيل.

• ركّزوا على أكبر 10 مصادر تسرب بدلاً من قوائم طويلة غير قابلة للتنفيذ.

• حسّنوا التحصيل عبر التجزئة وليس عبر ضغط قد يرفع معدل الانقطاع (Churn).