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This week
IN THE NEWS: Telstra hit with $1.5 million fine for scam breaches, TIO calls for mobiles to be an ‘essential service’, and ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett talks telco on ABC Radio
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The ACMA has this week found Telstra failed to follow customer ID rules for 168,000 high-risk customer interactions, including over 7000 interactions concerning customers identified as being in vulnerable situations. Customer ID rules exist to protect consumers against misuse of their accounts, loss of services or other fraudulent activity. A penalty of $1,551,000 has been levied as a result. In a media release published following the news, ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said the Telstra breach was "inexcusable" given the broad efforts to reduce the impact of fraud and scam activity in Australia. [ACCAN]
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Following a six-day Telstra outage in regional Western Australia which significantly impacted local communities, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) Cynthia Gebert pointed out that there are no minimum service requirements that providers must guarantee to consumers. Ms Gebert said that current universal service obligations exist only for landline connections, and this should be amended through the current review into universal services to reflect how people now rely on mobile communications. [ABC]
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ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett recently joined Rick Hind on ABC Darwin Mornings to discuss important current and upcoming matters, including the Universal Service Obligation, Regional Telecommunications Review, digital inclusion, 3G shutdown and affordable broadband products. You can listen to the full interview via the link below. Carol's segment starts at the beginning and wraps up around the 20-minute mark. [ABC]
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The ACMA has released a helpful consumer fact sheet about financial hardship. It explains the assistance available to help people struggling to pay their phone or internet bill. It sets out options for assistance, criteria for eligibility, how to get help and how to make a complaint. They have also released a series of animated video resources, available on the consumer group resources page. [ACMA]
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Australia's mobile network operators are shutting down their 3G services, starting with Telstra on 31 August 2024, with Optus to follow in September. CHOICE have released an article to help consumers prepare for the shutdown. ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett was interviewed for the piece, and stressed the need for consumers to take proactive steps to ensure their device will work after the shutdown. Online and text-based checking tools are available for all consumers. [CHOICE]
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The industry Working Group established by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has revised down the initial estimate of 4G devices that could lose access to Triple Zero after the 3G shutdown occurs. The Working Group has identified 102,000 4G devices that may rely on the 3G network to reach Triple Zero, and telcos are ‘undertaking significant efforts’ to contact affected customers. Initial estimates in March had the number of affected devices at over 700,000. TPG/Vodafone customers can now also use the text checker tool – SMS ‘3’ to ‘3498’. [Minister Rowland]
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The ACCC has commenced a review into the network sharing arrangement between Optus and TPG Telecom (the Multi-Operator Core Network – or MOCN – Agreement). The review will investigate the potential impacts on competition of the deal, which involves Optus accessing certain spectrum bands owned by TPG, and TPG gaining access to Optus’ mobile network infrastructure, including regional 5G networks. The ACCC intends to release its findings by September 13, 2024. [Jurist]
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ACCAN members will have recently received renewal notices by email. Thank you to all members for your continued support of ACCAN and its work for communications consumers. If you are not yet a member - an ACCAN Membership gives you access to informative and educative resources, ACCAN events, and frequent Advisory Forums. Please contact our membership team should you have any questions. [ACCAN]
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Aussie Broadband have announced the launch of ‘Buddy Telco’, a no-frills, budget NBN offering. Utilising the full Aussie Broadband NBN network, Buddy plans may cost $10-30 less per month compared to the comparable Aussie product. As a trade-off, Buddy customers will have a different service experience, with AI powered, chat-based customer interaction and machine learning integrated into network and technical support. [WhistleOut]
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The Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee (RTIRC) is currently holding consultations around the country, providing an opportunity for people living and working in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia to share their views and experiences using telecommunications services in their area. The RTIRC will be in South Australia on 26 July, regional NSW from 9-10 August and the Northern Territory from 11-13 September. You can register for these upcoming events and/or submit your views via a simple survey, via the link above. [RTIRC]
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Although we take care to direct subscribers to sites with accurate and reliable content, we advise that ACCAN is not responsible for the content within external sites and has no control over the views, services or information contained therein. Information contained on external sites may not necessarily reflect ACCAN's policy, standards or beliefs. The information contained in or attached to this message is intended only for the people it is addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this information is unauthorised and prohibited. This information may be confidential or subject to legal privilege. If you receive this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the e-mail and any attachments. The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network does not warrant that the information in this e-mail or any attachments are free from any viruses, defects, errors, interception or interference.
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