Toronto-based mobilityView‘s mobile cost management platform is now available to Canadian enterprises through the Telus Enterprise Mobility Alliance Program, which builds custom plans for large businesses.
mobilityView’s platform allows businesses to understand how employees are using mobile data (SMS, voice, data, and local/roaming). Without requiring cell operator integration, the platform tracks when employees are using devices for work purposes and when they’re using it for personal use.
“Companies are getting very frustrated with these escalating bills because they have no idea what’s going on.”
By providing a “mileage book” for usage, CEO Thom Damstra said, both employers and employees can ensure they’re tax compliant. While current Canadian tax law says that employees not reimbursed by their employers can be reimbused for work-related mobile usage when filing taxes, the CRA requires them to prove when and how they used it for work—a difficult activity to measure. In a country with some of the highest-wireless rates in the world, it adds up.
At the same time, employers that do reimburse employees don’t have insight into how employees actually use mobile data. Damstra said the company has never done a trial with a business where less than 70 percent of mobile use was personal.
“Companies are getting very frustrated with these escalating bills because they have no idea what’s going on because the operators can’t tell them what’s going on,” said Damstra. “Alternatively, companies can still pay 100 percent of the cell phone bill and eat the costs. We will keep them tax compliant and reduce the costs that they would have to incur to keep the employee whole after tax. More importantly, we will help the employer more effectively manage their spend, and ensure that they never have bill shock or overages.”
Damstra has spent 20 years in the mobile business, holding leadership roles in companies like Verizon, Vodafone, and Motorola.
The company raised a recent funding round led by Madison Dearbon Partners managing director James Perry—whose past investments include Clearnet and metroPCS—at what it says is a $100 million CAD valuation. However, mobilityView wouldn’t share specifics on the amount of investment. Besides launching with Netherlands-based Altice’s Dominican Republic operations, mobilityView is also tight-lipped on its clients, though Damstra said that it broadly included operators with 250 million subscribers.
The company does have expertise behind it. Damstra has spent 20 years in the mobile business, holding leadership roles in companies like Verizon, Vodafone, and Motorola. Its current board chairman is Kristian Tear, VP and head of EMEA at Logitech, and its board includes Torstar CEO and former chief marketing officer for Rogers Communications John Boynton.
According to Ericsson’s 2018 mobility report, North America has the highest mobile data usage per smartphone, at 7.2 GB per month.
“We are very excited to be able to include mobilityView with the Introduction of our Enterprise Mobility Alliance Program,” said Craig Thornton, VP of national business solutions for TELUS. “In today’s complex business environment, we are always looking for opportunities to innovate and introduce additional value for our customers. We believe that unique solution providers like MVI help us do just that.”
Photo via Unsplash.
