Hot Issues
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The cotton industry is an integral part of the Australian economy, worth more than $1.5 billion in export earnings for the 2015-16 season and employing on average 10,000 people.
Cotton Australia, the peak industry body for Australia’s cotton industry, is one of ACCAN’s newest members. The organisation is also a member of the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition.
As a member of both ACCAN and the Coalition, Cotton Australia has highlighted telecommunications issues many cotton growers experience, including poor to no mobile service, unreliable internet services with speeds and data caps that often mean growers struggle to send an email, let alone capitalise on all the benefits of ‘smart’ agriculture.
Read more: Reliable telecommunications a necessity for Aussie cotton farmers
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March 15 is World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD). WCRD is an opportunity to promote the basic rights of all consumers, demanding that those rights are respected and protected, and a chance to protest against the market abuses and social injustices which undermine those rights.
The theme for WCRD 2017 is ‘Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust.’ To tie into this theme, this blog looks at where consumers can turn to when they need to make a complaint, get advice or report scams and cyberbullying.
Read more: Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust
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A recent ACCAN survey of 100 small businesses found that 96 of the respondents had experienced at least one issue with their telecommunications services. With many small businesses relying on these services to operate, this is a concerning figure. When services don’t deliver, this can mean lost profits and productivity for small businesses.
The top issues experienced by the respondents were issues with: internet speeds, internet congestion during peak times, costs and outages. The most prevalent issue was slow data speed, with 73 respondents reporting this problem.
Read more: What telco issues are small businesses experiencing?
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This is part three in our series of blogs looking at issues highlighted by ACCAN stakeholders at public hearings for the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry on the Universal Service Obligation (USO).
This post looks at affordability concerns highlighted by the South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) and issues raised by ACCAN member, Bruce Bebbington, at the public hearing held in Perth.
Read more: Having a say on the USO (part three)
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In late January/early February members of the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition attended public hearings to voice concerns on the Productivity Commission’s draft inquiry report on the Universal Service Obligation (USO).
This post covers the hearings attended by Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF), AgForce Queensland and Better Internet for Rural, Regional & Remote Australia (BIRRR).
Read more: Having a say on the USO (part two)
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The first of many issues in 2017 to be a focus for the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition was the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report for the Inquiry into the Universal Service Obligation (USO).
The USO underpins consumers’ access to phone services, including payphones. While many may have never heard about the USO, it is an important obligation that aims to ensure voice services are available and accessible to all Australians.
Read more: Having a say on the USO (part one)
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The Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition is urging the approximately 1200 households who have not yet switched from the Interim Satellite Service (ISS) to the Sky Muster National Broadband Network (nbn) satellite service to do so as soon as possible.
"These households need to switch before 28 February or they will be left without an internet service. They should contact their preferred provider as soon as practicable to arrange a new service," NFF President Fiona Simson said.
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This week a Federal Parliamentary Committee is expected to report on a draft bill to amend the Competition and Consumer Act telco specific provisions. In this blog we will outline our assessment of the impact on consumers. This is the approach we took in our response to the Department of Communications and the Arts consultation on the proposed changes in October 2016.
Not surprisingly, Telstra is generally supportive of the removal of the telco specific rules. However, other telecommunications industry providers are taking a different approach as they believe the removal of the specific rules would weaken competition in the telco sector.
Read more: Our take on the telco specific competition law reforms
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Broadband is now considered essential to provide access to services and employment opportunities, as well as entertainment and education. This is true for all consumers, no matter whether they live in regional, rural or remote areas or in the cities.
Reliable broadband connections are also pivotal for small businesses and farmers who often rely on them to run their businesses. Internet connections provide opportunities for farmers to use sophisticated agricultural software to monitor yield predictions and more. But when services fail, there are no guarantees that apply to internet services to ensure faults are fixed within certain timeframes. This can result in long outages, meaning lost money and productivity for farmers and small businesses, and frustration for general consumers.
Read more: A telecommunications guarantee for the future
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Grand Intentions, a new novel by Professor Trevor Barr, was inspired by the Australian telco industry. The novel tells the story of a fictitious telecommunications company, Telco One, as it undergoes major changes.
Read more: Grand Intentions – a novel about the Australian telco industry
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Many small businesses rely on telecommunication services to operate. When services do not deliver, this can result in losses for small business owners.
To get insights into what telecommunication issues small businesses are facing and hear more about what they need from their services, we interviewed the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), Kate Carnell.
Read more: Number one telco issue for small business is ‘access’
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The Australian mobile network providers have all announced the switch off of their 2G networks:
- Optus’ 2G network will switch off from 3 April, 2017
- Vodafone’s 2G network will switch off on 30 September, 2017
- Telstra’s 2G network was switched off on 1 December, 2016
This article has information for consumers using 2G services on the Optus and Vodafone networks.
Read more: 2G network switch offs – what you need to know
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