A new Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) intelligence sweep of telco websites has found the overwhelming majority of telcos are complying with rules to provide Critical Information Summaries (CIS) to their customers.
‘CIS provide important information to consumers when making a choice between the plans offered by different telcos,’ said ACMA Chair, Nerida O’Loughlin. ‘Consumers can find this information outlining pricing, minimum monthly charges, and important service conditions on telcos’ websites.’
The ACMA’s sweep covered all 131 telcos that were selling services provided over the NBN at the time of the review. It found that 97 percent of them have one or more CIS readily available on their website as required under the Telecommunication Consumer Protections Code.
‘It’s encouraging to see a high level of compliance to provide information clearly and prominently as more consumers move to the new network,’ Ms O’Loughlin said. ‘However, we found a small number of providers fell short.’
Three providers—Your Call Telecom, EHW Technology and Easy Internet Services—were formally warned by the ACMA for not providing any CIS. Each provider promptly addressed their non-compliance by developing CIS and including them on their websites.
The sweep also found that many providers were not following voluntary industry guidelines about the provision of information on medical alarms and the implications of power outages on new network services.
‘The ACMA will be introducing new rules from 1 July to ensure that consumers have all the information they need—not just price information—to inform their decisions when moving to new services delivered over the NBN,’ said Ms O’Loughlin.
The three warnings are available on the online version of this release.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Emma Rossi, Media Manager, (02) 9334 7719, 0434 652 063 or media@acma.gov.au