he rapid displacement of old technologies and old companies with the new and improved is a critical reason for its suc- cess and value Telecommunications technology is changing at an ever-in- creasing rate, making technologies obsolete long before they are fully utilized. 3. The competitive marketplace of today can change dramat- ically overnight. Consumers take dozens of factors into account when they churn in a never-ending combination of complex mental and emotional calculations. Consumers' attitudes about when, how, and where to buy telecommunications services are constantly evolving. The changing economic ground rules upon which the com- pany evaluates customers is continually subject to change and reevaluation as all of these other factors continue to play out. In other words, the optimum churn equation is always changing. eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook Is It Really Possible to Manage Churn? Before we go any further in our discussion then, let's consider this concept of churn management more closely and see what is implied by the term. One problem, of course, is that everybody seems to define the various types of churn differently. Managing Involuntary Churn First of all, if you said that you wanted to find a way to manage involuntary churn (caused by credit and fraud problems), no one would disagree with you. Taking on customers that mean to cheat you out of services or who are unable to pay their bills is just plain bad business. The best way to manage this kind of churn is to determine who is likely to be fraudulent or create credit problems and prevent them from subscribing in the first place. In this case, the best churn remedy is to completely avoid these situations. Managing Price-Based Churn Once we consider the different types of voluntary churn, however, we no longer have immediate agreement. What does managing price-based churn mean? You have customers who are going to change carriers because the competitor is offering the same or better service for a better price. What