rofit margins in a market where competitors can offer higher quality service at a fraction of the cost currently being charged is a serious challenge. TECHNOLOGY AND THE CLEC AND LEC So far, the local exchange carriers (LECs) and the competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) have managed to stay clear of any serious churn challenges. However, the horizon is starting to shape up as a future churn battleground for these carriers as well. eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook As CLECs figure out how to penetrate the home with fixed wireless, cable, fiber optic, and digital subscriber line (DSL) access, it is a sure bet that this last bastion of the non-competitive telecommunications environment will fall to the churn bug as well. Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3 CHURN TAXONOMY - PART 1: INVOLUNTARY CHURN To truly address the issues surrounding churn we must first define exactly what we mean by the word. There are dozens of definitions for the term and hundreds of reasons that people decide to change carriers. For many carriers, the biggest and most expensive type of churn does not involve the customers who want to change providers but those who are forced to end their subscriptions. We refer to these as the "involuntary churners. " One of the first challenges that you face when you decide to do something about the churn your company is experiencing is coming up with a good description of what churn actually is. CHURN NAME CONFUSION It seems that everyone we talk to has a different definition of what exactly churn is in their company. eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook Different Perspectives, Different Names Financial people report churn as the former customers who are now no longer subscribers for whatever reason. Marketing personnel consider churn to be those people who choose to subscribe with some other service provider. Some groups include those that have been disconnected for reasons of non-payment along with the people who simply stop using their phone without even making an off