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Disability advocates are today celebrating the passage of legislation in both houses of Parliament that means television viewers will soon enjoy better closed captioning on television.

Closed captions refer to the on-screen text that describes the speech and other audio during television broadcasts.

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Peak consumer group ACCAN says it cannot support the revised Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) Code that was submitted to the Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) for registration.

“The telecommunications industry has been told by the regulator that it [the Code] needs to change substantially to curb the level of customer complaints about telcos or face direct regulation,” ACCAN Chief Executive Officer Teresa Corbin said today.

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Deaf Australia, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and the Australian Federation of Deaf Societies (AFDS) today congratulated the outstanding efforts of the Queensland Government in ensuring there was an Auslan (Australian Sign Language) interpreter standing alongside Queensland Premier Anna Bligh during press conferences concerning the devastating floods that inundated the state this week.

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New research has found consumers often feel so confused and overloaded with information when it comes to buying telco products they have to resort to a range of coping strategies to navigate the highly complex market.

Dr Paul Harrison will present the full findings and recommendations stemming from the report, Seeking Straight Answers: Consumer Decision-Making in Telecommunications, in his keynote address at the 2011 ACCAN National Conference being held in Sydney today and tomorrow.

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Peak telecommunications consumer body ACCAN says its new research confirms the majority of Australians now see their mobile phone as their number one communications device (58%), while fixed line phones dwindle at 29%. The research highlighted a generational gap, with younger people vastly preferring mobiles (77%), while more than half of people aged 55 and over saying their fixed line is their main service.

The first annual ACCAN National Consumer Perceptions Survey, which is being presented at the ACCAN 2012 National Conference being held in Sydney today (Weds), also revealed that many Australians are reluctant to switch providers, with almost a third of respondents saying they had never switched telecommunications providers. Almost half had been with their provider for five years or more. 

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Telecommunications consumer group ACCAN is today revealing the best and worst pre-paid calling cards to use to phone friends and family overseas this Christmas after a mystery shopping test it conducted found significant problems with 40% of cards.

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One third of consumers have fallen victim to Cybercrime or Personal Identity theft, according to the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).

New research into consumer awareness of E-security was presented today at the Inquiry into Cybercrime, highlighting the need for a more co-ordinated, rigorous approach to E-security measures for Australian consumers.

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The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) says while it is appropriate that Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim has launched an investigation into the latest Telstra privacy breach, customers with concerns should consider making their own complaint.

ACCAN says customers with concerns should contact Telstra via its hotline on 133 933. If they want to make a complaint, it’s important they use the word “complaint” when speaking to the customer service representative.

If customers are unsatisfied with Telstra’s response they can make a complaint as an individual to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

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The Australian Human Rights Commission and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network are delighted to announce a new accessible app challenge, Apps For All.

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Peak consumer communications group ACCAN says prices for services on the NBN released yesterday by retail service provider Internode are comparable to current offers but affordability remains a key concern for consumers.

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Peak consumer group ACCAN says annual report data released by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) today shows the number of customers who have gone to the TIO about an unexpectedly high bill has doubled over the past year.

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Disability advocates say a “talking” digital set-top box specially commissioned by the Digital Switchover Taskforce under the Household Assistance Scheme (HAS) will ensure blind and vision-impaired Australians still have access to television when the analog signal is switched off.

ACCAN, Blind Citizens Australia (BCA), Media Access Australia (MAA) and Vision Australia (VA) today welcomed the announcement made by Senator Stephen Conroy that from next month the talking set-top box will be provided to eligible consumers at no cost.

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