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ACCAN submitted to the Interim Report of the Australian Consumer Law review to provide feedback on proposed options to improve consumer protection laws and guidance material for telecommunications consumers.  

We were pleased to see the Interim Report taking up several of ACCAN’s concerns:

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The ACCC is undertaking a inquiry to determine whether the difference in geographic coverage provided by Telstra, Optus and Vodafone is having a negative effect on competition for mobile services, and whether requiring mobile roaming would be in the long-term interests of consumers.  

Mobile roaming is where a mobile network operator uses (or roams onto) the mobile network of another mobile network operator (the host mobile network) so that the first operator can provide mobile services to consumers outside of its own network coverage area.

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The Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition has welcomed the release of the Productivity Commission’s (PC) draft report into the Universal Service Obligation (USO) with its finding that the current arrangements are in need of reform, sooner rather than later.

Achieving a USO that is technology neutral and that provides access to both voice and data is one of the fundamental pillars that prompted the formation of this Coalition.

NSW Farmers Association President, Derek Schoen, said: “It is pleasing that the PC has recognised that the current USO agreement is out of date and that voice and broadband access should be part of the USO into the future.

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The ACMA recently consulted with ACCAN on changes that aim to improve the identity-checking requirements for activating prepaid mobile services.

Between November 2015 and July 2016 the ACMA conducted a review of the Telecommunications (Service Provider – Identity Checks for Prepaid Mobile Carriage Services) Determination 2013. The working group established as part of the review made 17 recommendations, which the ACMA has agreed to support.

ACCAN is pleased to see that the ACMA is supporting the working group’s recommendations, which will help to enable all consumers to obtain prepaid services without undue burden.

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Female farmer using smartphoneWe the undersigned join together as a Coalition to highlight our collective concern about the lack of equitable access to reliable and quality telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote Australia. We represent the businesses, communities and families of rural and regional Australia.

Our members include some of the most innovative businesses and individuals in Australia. Yet we remain locked out of future economic growth and prosperity through the digital divide – undermining Australia’s productivity.

We firmly believe that access to better communications services across regional Australia will lead to better outcomes for the entire nation.

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A group of like-minded advocacy groups have come together to end the data drought by forming the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition to champion better communications services for consumers and small businesses living in rural, remote or regional areas.

The Coalition includes the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), the Country Women’s Association of NSW, the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association and AgForce Queensland.

“The Coalition was formed to highlight the collective concerns of families, businesses and communities in rural and regional Australia about the lack of equitable access to reliable and quality telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote Australia,” ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin said.

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Woman using tabletACCAN and Infoxchange have come together to produce a report focusing on the more than 427,000 dwellings (about 5 per cent of housing stock) in Australia which fall into the category of social housing – housing provided by the government and community sectors to accommodate people in the lowest income brackets. Residents of social housing are more likely to fall on the wrong side of the digital divide, and face a range of barriers in getting connected. These barriers can be practical, such as getting permissions to install connections in old apartment blocks, budgetary, where the cost to sign up may be prohibitive, or may be related to digital literacy.

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There are a number of fixed networks delivering superfast broadband services (capable of delivering greater than 25Mbps download speeds). In October the ACCC consulted about the pricing and terms and conditions that should apply to some of these networks, such as Opticomm, OPENetworks, LBN Co, Telstra South Brisbane and TPGs FTTB networks. The price and terms for NBN are set out under different documents, called the Special Access Undertaking.

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In September the ACCC commenced a broad study into the telecommunications market and the likely developments over the next 5 years. It asked a range of questions about the market to understand if there are any potential issues that will negatively affect consumers. This included questions such as what information would be beneficial to consumers in choosing products, whether competition is working in the voice and broadband service market and whether there are issues with emerging technologies and services.

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The summary below outlines ACCAN's activities from 1 June, 2016 to 31 August, 2016.

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Senior man using mobile phoneThe 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.

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Report cover image of locked mobile phone displaying $10 noteA major report into telecommunications affordability today launched jointly by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and the South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) highlights concerns about low-income consumers in staying connected to telecommunications services.

The report, Connectivity Costs: Telecommunications Affordability for Low-Income Australians, which was based on a survey of over 500 Centrelink recipients and low-income Health Care Card holders, as well as a series of focus groups, found that:

  • 66 per cent of respondents rated telecommunications among the five most important factors in their household budget; but
  • 62 per cent reported difficulty paying, having to cut back or that they had stopped using one or more telecommunications services for financial reasons in the last 12 months.

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