The opinion piece below was written by ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett for the Canberra Times and Australian Community Media about the 3G shutdown. It was originally published on 19 August 2024.

Many Australians are doing it tough right now and the challenges confronting rural and remote parts of the country are especially acute.

The bush has always struggled to secure essential services, be it doctors, teachers or trades. Communications services are equally essential.

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Australia’s peak communications consumer body, ACCAN, is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the conduct and culture of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) following troubling revelations about its close collaboration with major telcos.

ACCAN recently submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)’s proposal to amend the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019.

The presentations and transcripts of all M-Enabling Australasia 2013 sessions are now available. M-Enabling Australasia 2013, held on 14-15 August 2013, brought together the who's who of disability advocacy, policy makers, manufacturers, developers, service providers and consumers to discuss how to make technology more accessible for people with disability and older consumers.

Black and white Wi-Fi sticker in window

Download: docSecuring your home or office Wi-Fi246 KB

Download: pdfSecuring your home or office Wi-Fi385.89 KB

Wi-Fi is a cheap and easy way to connect your devices to each other and to the internet without running cables throughout your home or office. However, because Wi-Fi is sent through the air, it is important to take steps to secure your network and devices.

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The National Children's and Youth Law Centre investigated the consumer, legal and financial issues faced by young Australians when they use mobile phones. This investigation led to a report outlining some of these common issues as well as to a set of resources for young Australians to better understand and navigate the mobile phone marketplace.

Funded under the ACCAN Grants Scheme, the final report as well as additional information, can be found on the Scheme's webpage.

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There are a number of options to get voice services:

  1. You can continue to use your current voice services.

  2. You may be able to use voice over broadband (called Voice over IP or VoIP) from your retail service provider.

Couple holding hands highlighting an important information

 

IMPORTANT!

Consumers in satellite areas can continue to use existing phone and internet services (except ISS services).

 

What is VoIP?

VoIP is a service that uses the internet to make voice calls, instead of the traditional copper connection.

VoIP offered through retail service providers may be of comparable quality to your current voice service. However, you are likely to experience a delay when calling other satellite phones. If you use medical alarms, faxes or are priority assistance then you will not be able to use Sky Muster for these services and should continue to use your current service.

VoIP works by connecting your current telephone to your router. This may require the use of an additional piece of equipment, called an Analogue Telephone Adapter or ATA.

VoIP can also be offered online through over the top providers, such as Skype. They usually work through your computer or devices and use microphone headphones. However, these are not as reliable and you may experience some poor performance.

What costs are associated with VoIP?

Calls are charged in a similar way to your current voice services, but may cost less.

Note: As VoIP uses the broadband connection, making and receiving calls will also use your data allowance. Calls usually use a very small amount of data. However, if you use up all of your data you may no longer be able to make or recieved calls over this service.

Can I contact Triple Zero (000) and 106 Emergency Call Services using VoIP?

A VoIP service from your retail service provider should be able to contact emergency services.

Online VoIP services, such as Skype, are not able to access emergency services.

Can I get priority assistance services?

No. Sky Muster does not offer priority assistance services. You will need to continue to use your current voice services to access priority assistance.

Can I use disability equipment over VoIP?

Disability equipment, such as TTYs may work with Sky Muster. You should check with your retail service provider and ask them to test it to see if the equipment works before arranging disconnection of existing services.

Can I keep my number with a VoIP service?

You may be able to keep your number. Ask your retail service provider.

Will there be a difference in the quality of service between VoIP and my current voice service?

To prevent any loss in performance of voice service you should ask your retail service provider to ensure that Quality of Service settings are enabled across all your equipment.

Satellites are known to experience delay (latency) issues. This can impact services such as VoIP. This is likely to affect calls between two satellite phones.

Can I bundle Sky Muster services with my current voice service?

Yes, some providers are offering a bundle of current voice services with Sky Muster broadband.

Can I just get a VoIP service and not a broadband plan?

No, you have to purchase a broadband plan in order to get a VoIP service.

 

Mother and daughter highlighting important information about VoIP

 

IMPORTANT!

VoIP services will not work in power outages.


Consider what alternative arrangements you need in case of power outages.

 

 

 Winter 2016 magazine cover

Download: pdfACCAN Magazine Issue 20 Winter 20162.81 MB (Note: reading order not accessible)

Download accessible version: docxACCAN Magazine - Winter 2016 accessible version41.46 KB

For consumers, migrating their services to the National Broadband Network (NBN) can be complicated and any loss of services or functionality can cause significant risk to life and result in extra costs and inconvenience for consumers. This statement sets out key areas that ACCAN believes should be improved for a successful consumer experience.

Midas Touch ImageIn 2017, Google and ACCAN once again partnered to offer a paid internship to a recent graduate who wished to explore an emerging communications consumer issue.

After submitting a brief proposal which outlined her desired research project, recent law and media graduate Jelena Ardalic was selected as the winner of the internship. Ardalic’s report, ‘Midas Touch: Consumer Implications of the Use of Smartphone Biometric Data’, discusses the impact that the use of biometrics (e.g. fingerprints, face recognition etc.) may have upon consumers’ privacy.

The summary below outlines ACCAN's activities from 1 March – 31 May 2020.

University of Technology Sydney

The project will map out policy options for developing a complaint-handling framework for digital platforms, addressing a critical need for the satisfactory resolution of complaints from consumers. The features of effective and accountable internal dispute resolution schemes and the options for an external complaint-handling scheme will be assessed.

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