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Telco customers will benefit from clearer communication from their providers; however, further efforts will be needed to protect consumers against unreliable telco services, according to the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).

Released today, the Morrison Government’s Consumer Safeguards Review Part B report provides a high-level framework that aims to address reliability issues of telco services at the wholesale and retail level.

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 glenn carstens peters EOQhsfFBhRk unsplashACCAN welcomes the Government’s recent announcement that it will provide a total of $4 Million in funding to the national broadcasters, ABC and SBS, to introduce audio described broadcast content in the 2020/21 financial year. ACCAN, along with Australia’s blindness sector and consumer groups have been advocating for the introduction of audio description across free-to-air television for many years.

Audio description is a verbal narration of visual elements of programming. The narration coincides with the program’s audio track with the description interspersed between dialogue.

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ACCAN recently submitted to the ACCC’s inquiry into NBN Access Pricing. The inquiry examined the possibility of ACCC regulating the price of entry level NBN services, in order to facilitate consistent pricing for services that are equivalent to legacy ADSL internet services.

ACCAN is supportive of measures being taken to allow for consumers to smoothly transition to NBN services without facing material increases in the price of their existing service.

Although broadly supportive of the ACCC’s inquiry, ACCAN argued that:

  • The best approach to providing pricing relief is through the introduction of a funded concessional broadband service for low income households;
  • If pricing regulation of the NBN is implemented, it should be applied to the 25/5Mbps speed tier rather than the 12/1Mbps speed tier;
  • The proposed retail price point of $60 for (a 12/1Mbps service) was well in excess of what many consumers can afford to pay.

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The telco industry peak body, Communications Alliance, is reviewing the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) Code. The IPND is a secure database that stores all listed and unlisted public numbers assigned to communications services. These include numbers assigned to a telephone, fax machine, or connected device like a tablet or car that can make and receive calls via Bluetooth. The IPND includes information about the service, including the name of the customer, the telco that provides the number, and the where the ‘service address’ is (that is, the street address where the customer lives or where telephone service is located).

The IPND Code sets out rules for telcos that supply information to the IPND, and for anyone that uses information from the IPND. In a 2018 review of the IPND, the ACMA found that a large portion of information was inaccurate. The IPND Code is being updated to make sure that telcos frequently compare their customer information with information in the IPND, and correct any discrepancies that are discovered.

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The ACMA is reviewing rules about international mobile roaming (IMR) for Australian telcos. They have proposed that International Mobile Roaming rules should be applied via a service provider determination, rather than an industry standard. This makes the rules administratively simpler to change and increases the maximum penalty for non-compliance. The ACMA has proposed a few other updates to mobile roaming regulation with the intention of making the rules more flexible for customers and telcos.

ACCAN supports of some, but not all, of the proposed changes. We agree with the tightening of existing International Mobile Roaming rules. However, we are concerned that some flexibility measures are too discretionary, and fail to provide appropriate consumer protections.

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ACCAN made a submission to the House of Representatives inquiry into 5G in Australia. ACCAN highlighted the need for whole of community engagement in the roll-out of 5G across Australia, emphasising the role that the telecommunications industry and government agencies need to undertake to ensure that consumer information is easily accessible, reliable and evidence based.

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ACCAN participated on the review of the industry code, C625 Information on Accessible Features for Telephone Equipment Code. The Code requires handset manufacturers to provide information about the accessibility features on their handsets to telcos. It also requires that handset manufacturers make this same information freely available to consumers. The updated Code also includes ACCAN’s Accessible Telecoms service as an alternative way for consumers to get information about accessibility features for handsets.

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ACCAN recently submitted to the Australian Treasury’s consultation about the implementation of the recommendations of the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry Final Report. The Final Report provided recommendations to:

  • Promote competition among the services offered by digital platforms;
  • Enhance privacy protections for consumers;
  • Provide for a dedicated external dispute resolution body for consumers seeking to make a complaint about digital platforms; and
  • Prohibit certain unfair trading practices and terms currently faced by consumers.

ACCAN strongly supports the contents of the final report and our submission outlines how we believe that the recommendations can be progressed over the coming months.

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The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently sought feedback on its Draft Privacy Safeguard Guidelines for the Consumer Data Right (CDR) regime. The Guidelines explain the Information Commissioner’s interpretation of the privacy safeguards and Consumer Data Rules, and provide examples of how the privacy safeguards and Consumer Data Rules may apply in certain situations. As the CDR regime will be extended to the telecommunications sector in the future, after first being implemented in the banking and energy sectors, ACCAN provided a response to the OAIC’s Guidelines.

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Telcos must play their part if consumers are to benefit from changes to NBN Co’s wholesale pricing and data capacity, according to the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).

Changes announced today by NBN Co will give telcos more flexibility in what they can offer their customers, starting with a reduction in the wholesale price of a modified 25Mbps service from December 2019. Importantly, these changes to 25Mbps services will affect both fixed line and fixed wireless plans, which mean that households in both metropolitan and regional areas should be able to benefit from cheaper broadband and better options. However, this is entirely dependent on telcos passing the changes on to their customers.

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Missed NBN appointments are costing Australians over $15 million per year in lost time, according to analysis from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).

The staggering financial impact of NBN Co’s 320 missed appointments per day1 was revealed in ACCAN’s response to the ACCC’s draft decision on the NBN wholesale service standards inquiry.

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