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Telstra and TPG Telecom (TPGT) have asked for ACCC authorisation to share their separately owned spectrum for the delivery of mobile services in a regional coverage zone. As part of the arrangement, Telstra and TPGT will also consolidate their mobile towers and TPGT will gain access to some of Telstra’s coverage.

Your place in the connected world
ACCANect 2017
20-21 September, Sydney

Digital technology has transformed consumer experiences around the world. Everything will be connected: devices, houses, transport, food production, health and government services. The “always connected” world raises big questions.

Join us at ACCANect 2017 and help shape the future for connected consumers.

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Teresa Corbin, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network CEO (ACCAN) has presented to the Joint Standing Committee (JSC) on the National Broadband Network in Sydney today with a raft of recommendations emphasising the need for improved service standards for satellite, fixed wireless, ADSL and copper legacy technologies for broadband services to regional, rural and remote areas of Australia. Her opening statement concerned the following issues:

The telco regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), has recently consulted on proposals to amend the Telecommunications (Listed Infringement Notice Provisions) Declaration 2022 (the IN Declaration). The IN Declaration allows the ACMA to issue infringement notices (fines) when telcos don’t follow certain rules.

Farming using tablet In April, some members of the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition had their say on issues relating to the NBN rollout at public hearings in front of the Joint Parliamentary Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network.

This blog summarises the issues highlighted by AgForce Queensland, Better Internet for Rural, Regional & Remote Australia (BIRRR) and ACCAN at these hearings. Transcripts for the hearings and submissions to the Committee are available online.

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The Rural Regional and Remote Communications Coalition (RRRCC) is disappointed the Federal Government failed to commit to funding subsequent rounds of the Mobile Black Spot Program in this week’s Budget.

Improved mobile coverage is essential for Australia’s agriculture sector to become a $100 billion industry by 2030 and is critical for the health and economic well-being of regional communities.

“Mobile coverage is a major problem for a lot of our members.

"The Government’s failure to commit additional funding to the Mobile Black Spot Program is a let-down for regional communities,” Derek Schoen, NSW Farmers President said.

The RRRCC recognises that some mobile black spot towers, funded under previous rounds of the Program, are yet to be built, and urges the Government and industry partners to expedite the roll-out of this vital infrastructure.

"We are huge supporters of the Program. It is delivering for regional communities and businesses, and will continue to do so with current funding," Australian Communications Consumer Action Network CEO Teresa Corbin said.

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) recently submitted to the Department of Home Affairs’ National Security Action Plan Discussion Paper. As the leading voice for communications consumers in Australia, ACCAN continues to monitor a range of data rights and privacy issues. ACCAN responded to questions 14 and 15 in the discussion paper which inquired about how to foster consumer trust in data security.

Question 14 in the discussion paper asked whether there is sufficient public information about data security. ACCAN noted that government data security information for consumers is spread across several websites and recommended the Federal Government further invest in quality, accessible education resources to be housed in a single, well-publicised location.

The CEOs of ACCAN, the South Australian Council of Social Services (SACOSS), and Financial Counsellors Australia (FCA) have sent a joint letter to the major political parties calling for an urgent review of the Centrelink Telephone Allowance (CTA). See below for a link to download the letter that was sent to the political parties.

The letter is accompanied by a preliminary data briefing report by ACCAN and SACOSS on the adequacy of the CTA, based on a survey of 523 low-income Australians. The survey found that many low-income consumers are struggling to pay their telecommunications costs, and that the CTA is not adequate to alleviate this financial difficulty. As a result, the report recommends that all parties and candidates in the Federal Election:

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ACCAN is alarmed that complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) have increased by 28.7 percent in the six months to December 2017, compared to the same time the previous year. The peak Australian telecommunications consumer body says the TIO’s latest statistics reinforce the need for urgent industry action to put customers first.

“Continuing high numbers of complaints shine a spotlight on weak consumer protections that have existed in telecommunications for some time. This is upheld by the fact that complaint numbers have increased across the board in mobile, fixed line phones and internet services”, said ACCAN CEO, Ms. Teresa Corbin.

“Arguments about whether complaints are the responsibility of the wholesale provider (NBN) or retail service providers do not help consumers resolve these problems quickly. ACCAN strongly supports the new raft of ACMA rules as they are badly needed - particularly the new complaint handling standard and complaints reporting rules.

Communications Alliance, the peak body for the telco industry, has sought feedback on a new draft Number Management – Use of Numbers by Customers Code. This draft Code replaces two former Industry Codes, that of C566:2005 Rights of Use of Numbers Code and C554:2004 Rights of Use of Premium Rate Service Numbers Code.

ACCAN has written to the major political parties (the Liberal Party, the Australian Labor Party, the Nationals and Australian Greens) to raise awareness of the need for politicians and government agencies to ensure that all of their online video content is accurately captioned. See below for a copy of this letter.

YouTube has a function that auto-captions videos uploaded to the site, but these captions are often inaccurate. Videos that are uploaded to Facebook often have no captions.

One in 6 Australians suffer from hearing loss; that’s 1 in 6 consumers who are not able to access online videos due to unreadable captions or a lack of captions. Access to information is especially important during the lead up to the 2016 Election. If videos are not properly captioned then many consumers will miss out on important information.

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ACCAN CEO - Teresa Corbin ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin, discussed a range of telecommunications consumer issues in a speech today at the CommsDay Sydney Summit. In particular, Ms Corbin outlined issues related to the ACCC inquiry into the Wholesale Service Standard and the consumer perspective on the ACMA new rules currently out for consultation.

Ms Corbin said “Currently, NBN’s wholesale service standard levels are set out in commercial agreements negotiated by NBN co with retail service providers (NBN’s Wholesale Broadband Agreement) but do not always lead to good outcomes for customers when it comes to connection times, fault repairs, appointment keeping and network reliability’.

The NBN environment is quite complex with a wholesaler, retail service provider and sometimes an aggregator as well involved in providing services to consumers. The ACCC inquiry on “whether NBN wholesale service standard levels are appropriate is strongly supported by consumer groups who believe that regulation is necessary to improve customer experiences.

Local number portability allows consumers to transfer – or ‘port’ – their local landline telephone number to a new service with a different telco provider.

The Local Number Portability Code (the Code) outlines the procedures that telcos must follow in relation to local number porting. It is important that the Code is thorough and fair so that consumers do not lose their local number in the process, or face lengthy delays when switching telco providers.

Woman sitting at desk talking on mobile phone Recently ACCAN has heard increasing reports about fraudulent mobile number porting and identity theft.

What is a mobile number porting scam?

Fraudulent mobile number porting happens when a scammer uses your personal details to port your mobile number from one provider to another. Scammers can get access to your personal details, such as your date of birth, phone number and address, via your social media profiles.

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Cat sitting around laptop requesting broadband speed volunteers ACCAN welcomes the release of the first round of results from the ACCC’s Measuring Broadband Australia speed monitoring program, and its generally positive findings. ‘We’ve long been calling for the independent monitoring of broadband speeds so consumers know what they’re likely to be getting when they buy a service. We’re strongly supportive of the ACCC’s work in this area’ ACCAN CEO Teresa Corbin said today.

‘Complaints about broadband speeds are at a record high. There is an obvious need for clear and accurate consumer information on what to expect from broadband services’ said ACCAN CEO Teresa Corbin. ‘The ACCC’s results make broadband speeds more transparent. This is important, because it helps consumers understand how services are actually performing, and gives them the tools they need to choose services best suited to their needs’.

The latest report shows that NBN fixed broadband plans from iiNet, Optus, TPG, and Telstra are typically delivering download speeds of around 80 to just over 90 per cent of the advertised maximum plan speed at the busiest time of the day (7-11pm), and performing consistently throughout the day. They are also achieving positive uploads speeds.

ACCAN recently submitted to The Treasury’s Statutory Review of the Consumer Data Right (CDR) Issues paper. The review, conducted by Elizabeth Kelly PSM, considers whether the existing statutory framework of the CDR is fit-for-purpose. As the peak body that represents all consumers on communications issues, ACCAN has engaged with the development of the CDR, especially as it relates to the telecommunications sector.

Communications towers in outback setting Last year Queensland Remote Aboriginal Media (QRAM), in conjunction with ACCAN, released what is believed to be the first consumer resources produced in Indigenous languages.

Working with design agency, Gilimbaa, QRAM created a series of audio tracks with information on what you should think about before buying a mobile phone, how to keep internet and phone costs low, what people can do if they get a large or unexpected bill and more. The project also produced a series of colourful posters that cover the same issues.

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Young woman looking concerned about her mobil ebill ACCAN welcomes the ACCC’s announcement today that it has commenced proceedings against Telstra for misleading its customers about third party billing services.

ACCAN CEO Teresa Corbin said that consumers have been extremely frustrated by these unexpected charges on their telco bills and by the difficulties they experience in resolving them. An ACCAN survey last year found 12% of mobile customers had experienced unexpected third party charges on their mobile phone bills in the preceding 6 months.

‘We’ve been calling for stronger consumer protections in this area for some time, including that all third party charging become opt-in, instead of the current opt-out arrangement’, said Ms Corbin. ‘Many people don’t realise that their mobile phone account can effectively be used like a credit card to purchase third party content, like games credits’.

The ACCC has found that Telstra has earned about $61.7m from commissions on third party premium direct billing.

The ACMA has sought comment on Draft Captioning Reduction orders numbers 00132-00137 inclusive. Whilst ACCAN is mindful of the goal of reaching 100 percent of captioning on subscription television services by 2032 as defined in the Broadcast Services Act, as the mentioned services are specifically racing services, a lot of information is already printed on screen and ACCAN does not see significant detriment to consumers by these orders being granted.

Today ACCAN is celebrating World Consumer Rights Day. The theme this year is ‘Making digital marketplaces fairer’ and Consumers International is calling for access to fair and secure internet for all, action against scams and fraud, and better consumer protection online. As a member of Consumers International, ACCAN supports this initiative.

“Consumers need to be wary of scams and online fraud which can come in different shapes and sizes,” ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin said. “We urge consumers to sign up to Australian Government scam alerts to stay on top of these issues and report scams when they encounter them.”

Consumers can stay informed about scams by following Scamwatch and Stay Smart Online. They can learn about cybercrime from the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN). Scams can be reported on the Scamwatch website and cybercrime can be reported on the ACORN website. ACCAN also has a tip sheet to help consumers avoid phone and internet scams.

ACCAN recently submitted to the Communications Alliance review of Industry Code C525:2017, regarding the Handling of Life Threatening or Unwelcome Communications.

After consulting with member organisations, ACCAN is not aware of any issues affecting consumers in relation to this Code, and as such, has recommended this Code continue unchanged.

TV remote pointing at TV Amending the Broadcasting Services Act to introduce audio description on free-to-air TV is one of ACCAN’s 2016 communications consumer priorities. Introducing audio description on Australian TV would provide greater access for consumers who are blind or vision impaired. Currently there is no audio description on Australian free-to-air TV.

Audio description is additional verbal narration that describes visual elements shown on screen during pauses in dialogue. It can describe elements such as scenes, costumes and actions.

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