UPDATE: AUGUST 2026
When I first published this story, Telenet had reduced bill inquiries by 14%.
A year later, that reduction has more than doubled, making an even stronger case for making bills easier to understand:
• Bill inquiries down 30%
• €3.6M+ in operational savings
And all without changing the underlying billing systems.
A few weeks ago, I sat with Nico Zwijsen, Product Owner of Telenet’s Bill Experience, to talk about the B2C project, known internally as “Chill Your Bill”. A reimagining of the customer bill experience across both Telenet and BASE brands.
What started as a virtual check-in over coffee quickly turned into one of the most insightful conversations I’ve had about the measurable impact of enhanced bill intelligence.
The results were impressive. But what struck me most was the way the project was delivered, and the team’s belief that a bill isn’t just about accuracy.
It’s about experience.
And that belief shaped everything that followed.
But let’s first start at the end of the story, with a surprising twist…
“We didn’t just reduce calls. We gave our customers clarity and confidence in what they’re paying for.” - Nico Zwijsen
Telenet’s “Chill Your Bill” project didn’t just modernise how bills are presented and explained. It delivered tangible and immediate business outcomes.
Since launching on its website in April 2025, bill inquiries had dropped by 14% at the time this story was originally published, far exceeding expectations.
That was expected to translate into as much as €1.2M in operational savings in year one alone.
We now know that was only the beginning.
The twist? This isn’t a story about numbers.
It’s about shifting the bill from a compliance document into a trusted part of the customer experience. An experience that boosts satisfaction, amplifies loyalty and ultimately puts the customer in control.
This ending packs an even bigger punch when you learn how it all began…
“We don’t want digital-only. We want digital-first. There’s a big difference.” - Nico Zwijsen
Before “Chill Your Bill” became a project name, it started with a simple question:
Why are so many customers calling about their bill?
It wasn’t because the bills were wrong. And it wasn’t that they were overly complicated. Most of the time, customers were asking questions that could be easily answered. If only the information had been easier to access or understand in context.
Simple, valid questions. But each one tied up valuable agent time. And more importantly, added unnecessary effort for the customer.
Telenet didn’t want to discourage people from calling. They wanted to give them better digital options.
“Digital first” doesn’t mean replacing human support. It means empowering customers to find the answers they need, quickly and on their own terms.
At the time, the bill experience was… functional. Customers received a notification, opened the app or logged in online, and viewed their bill. It included everything: charges, usage, dates, amounts, discounts, and more. But what it didn’t offer was interpretation, explanation or context. It was largely up to the customer to make sense of it. And for a company so focused on customer experience, that wasn’t good enough anymore.
Imagine picking up a French dictionary and assuming you’d learn how to speak French. Sure, it’s accurate. It’s often very useful. But it’s not enough. To truly learn the language, you need context, insight and above all, experience.
A bill is no different. It works fine as the dictionary. But if you want your customers to truly understand it, you need to give them something more. Something intelligent and contextual, wrapped in a great experience.
And that’s exactly what Telenet set out to do…
“Calvi doesn’t just implement requirements. They help shape our roadmap.” - Nico Zwijsen
Telenet knew the kind of bill experience they wanted to create. What they didn’t want was to build it from scratch. Extending their existing billing system or CRM had been on the table. But a custom solution would be costly, complex and too inflexible to keep up with changing customer expectations.
They weren’t just looking for software. They needed a team of experts who truly understood the business of billing. Not just the technology of billing.
That’s where we came in.
Telenet chose Calvi to bring industry expertise, challenge assumptions and co-create something that genuinely worked for both their customers AND their bills.
And that’s exactly how we approached it.
Together, we reframed the problem. Instead of reacting to “bill shock”, we focused on proactively identifying and explaining what we call “bill scenarios”: those moments when a bill may deviate from a customer’s expectations.
We helped Telenet map dozens of these scenarios and defined pre-emptive actions to ensure the context was made clear to the customer.
Each charge technically correct. But without context, confusing.
And confusion creates calls and breeds frustration.
By recognising these patterns and surfacing clear, timely explanations in jargon-free language, we helped shift the focus from explaining a charge to explaining the story behind the charge.
After all, we weren’t just trying to reduce call volumes. We were trying to make bills make sense.
The next step was to bring that vision to life…
“From contract to first launch in under a year. That’s fast for any telco.” - Nico Zwijsen
The goal wasn’t to replace the bill. It was to reimagine how it was experienced: easier, clearer and more helpful for every customer.
It had to be built for telecom complexity and designed for effortless customer experience.
We collaborated to deliver an agile, scalable, end-to-end bill experience:
The foundation was live. What happened next would show just how much impact that foundation could deliver…
“Telenet's bill experience doesn't just solve today's billing questions. It sets us up to answer tomorrow's." - Nico Zwijsen
At the time this story was originally published, with the web experience already live and mobile apps launching next, Telenet’s focus was shifting to extending that same enriched bill intelligence across every customer channel, whether through AI agents, in-store interactions or contact center support.
More specifically, that meant:
Our collective vision was clear:
A future-proof bill experience that is proactive, consistent and digital-first.
Across every channel.
For every customer.
Always.
And we were only just getting started…
This project wasn’t about replacing a billing system. It wasn’t about diverting customers to self-service unnecessarily. It was about pre-empting questions, removing confusion and offering the customer more digital options.
Together with Telenet, we built a smarter bill experience. One that is clear, contextual and customer centric.
And the results have continued to build: from a 14% reduction in bill inquiries just months after launch to 30% today.
We started from a shared belief: if you can explain the story behind the charge, you build understanding.
And understanding builds trust. And trust builds loyalty.
Realizing that kind of vision is only possible with the right partnership.
So, on a personal note, I wanted to finish by saying thank you to the entire Telenet team. It’s been a true collaboration that we’re proud to be a part of. Everyone here at Calvi is excited to continue reimagining the future of the bill experience with you all.
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