ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin, discussed a range of telecommunications consumer issues in a speech today at the CommsDay Melbourne Congress. In particular, Ms Corbin outlined issues related to nbn’s Special Access Undertaking (SAU) and consumer issues relating to the NBN rollout.

The SAU is a document that establishes the regulatory regime of the National Broadband Network for the next 23 years. ACCAN believes some of the charges proposed in the SAU are unfair for consumers.

“The proposed charge of $150 for consumers who are unable to self-install, for missed appointments or late cancellation of appointments may negatively impact on some vulnerable consumers,” said Ms Corbin. “We are also concerned about the removal of requirements to make rollout information available to the public. Access to this information is useful to many organisations and consumers.”

When talking about issues related to the rollout of the NBN, Ms Corbin highlighted the need to adopt recommendations outlined in the first report from the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the NBN.

“We were very pleased to see a lot of ACCAN’s concerns being included in the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s report, specifically around the rollout in regional and rural Australia and consumer safeguards and protections for broadband services.”

Ms Corbin’s presentation also showcased ACCAN’s consumer resource that aims to help consumers in the switchover to the NBN – 5 things you need to know about NBN.

Other topics discussed in the presentation were: broadband speeds, the Universal Service Obligation, mobile coverage, accessible communications and affordability.

For more information, contact Luke Sutton on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 0409 966 931. For the latest updates, follow ACCAN on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

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