ACCAN welcomes Telstra’s announcement that it will no longer offer third party mobile subscriptions to its customers from 3 December, 2017. Our recent survey found that as many as 1.9m consumers across Australia have found unexpected third party charges on their phone bills in the previous six months. “We congratulate Telstra on stepping up and taking action to stop their [...]
The following is reposted from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman website: The TIO is proposing to amend its Terms of Reference to address the increasing complexity of the telecommunications supply chain arising from the rollout of the national broadband network. This complexity has given rise to a number of unique challenges in resolving complaints between consumers [...]
ACCAN welcomes the ACCC’s guidance to retail service providers (RSPs) on broadband speed claims released today. The guidance should help clear up the consumer confusion around broadband speeds. The informative labels that the ACCC has suggested (basic evening speed, standard evening speed, standard plus evening speed and premium evening speed) will help consumers better understand the speeds they [...]
A new survey, commissioned by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), has revealed that 12 per cent of respondents experienced unexpected third party charges on their mobile phone bills in the last six months. “Applied to the mobile customer base of Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, this 12 per cent equates to almost 1.9m people [...]
CHOICE finds 62% of Australians faced issues with their internet in the past six months, with Telstra ranked last for value for money CHOICE’s internet satisfaction survey has found Australians have been plagued by disconnections and drop-outs, connection issues and slow speeds over the past six months, with consumers least satisfied with Telstra and Dodo. [...]
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) welcomes changes to the Telecommunications Reform Package legislation introduced into Parliament today as a big win for all consumers. A number of ACCAN’s concerns will be addressed by the legislation as it contains improved consumer protections. In particular, ACCAN is pleased to see these changes: Statutory Infrastructure Provider provisions will [...]
Euroconsumers, a group of five Consumers International members, have launched a declaration calling for consumers to be given greater control over their personal data and greater access to the benefits the data produces. As data rapidly becomes the world’s greatest commodity, the group of consumer organisations want to see consumers playing a key role in [...]
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has engaged independent consultants to conduct a review TIO scheme, as required by legislation. The purpose of the review is to ensure that the TIO can continue to work effectively and meet the needs of consumers, its members and the telecommunications industry. The review will be the first of its [...]
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) welcomes the ACCC’s draft decision to not declare a wholesale domestic mobile roaming service. In its submission to the ACCC Inquiry, ACCAN questioned whether regulated domestic roaming would result in better mobile coverage and improved competition in regional, rural and remote areas. ACCAN notes the ACCC’s finding that [...]
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) appeared before the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network in Melbourne today to highlight the need for service standards and to present solutions to problems faced by consumers in the NBN rollout. “It is fair to say that for a number of consumers the rollout has [...]
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement that it will fund a new broadband performance monitoring program to provide Australian consumers with accurate and independent information about broadband speeds. The program will use hardware-based devices to perform remote testing of around 4,000 households to determine typical speeds on fixed-line NBN [...]
The Queensland Consumers Association says householders experiencing difficulty paying high power bills caused by keeping cool during the sweltering summer should contact their power retailer as soon as possible. Association spokesperson, Ian Jarratt, says many power bills received, or those yet to arrive, will be well above normal due to the use of power guzzling [...]
