Australian consumers believe they are getting a raw deal from their Internet service providers over the speed of their broadband services, with most of them believing they aren’t getting what they signed up to and paid for.
And now the competition watchdog the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has moved to end the confusion and attempt to stop a high level of complaints and dissatisfaction after its investigations and public consultation revealed that 4 out of 5 consumers are having trouble comparing broadband speeds.
The level of confusion and concern amongst consumers is evident, with complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman about Internet data speeds increasing 48% during 2015-16, making it the single largest issue for consumer complaints during the year.
The ACCC has today published principles which it says are designed to help ensure Internet service providers’ claims about broadband speeds aren’t misleading under Australian Consumer Law.
{loadposition peter}Publication of the principles comes after the commission issued a discussion paper last year and received 400 responses from consumers and industry groups. To access the ACCC's report on its investigations and consultations click here.
“Consumers believe they aren’t getting what they sign up for, and pay for, when it comes to home internet speeds,” says ACCC chairman Rod Sims.
“It is time the industry met consumer demand for accurate information about broadband speeds so consumers can compare offers and make informed decisions about their Internet services.”
Sims says the commission is concerned that the use of “vague speed claims is not providing consumers accurate, comparable, or useful information, causing a high level of complaints, confusion, and dissatisfaction”.
The decision by the ACCC to publish principles for retail providers on broadband speeds has been welcomed by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) which says that, at the moment, “consumers are unable to tell what speed they can expect from a service during busy periods, to compare providers or pick the plans which meet their speed needs”.
“When speed and performance issues are encountered, there is often limited assistance to resolve problems. The ACCC has recognised these issues and is suggesting that retail providers can do better in these areas. We fully support this initiative and hope retail providers will get behind it. We look forward to working with the ACCC with the best practice broadband speed advertising guide in the coming months,” the ACCAN said.
The ACCC’s six principles to guide ISPs on best practice marketing when it comes to broadband speeds include how to make a clear statement on the typical speeds consumers can expect during busy hours.
Sims says ISPs should make accurate information about broadband speeds available to consumers during sales processes and on their websites to help consumers compare plans, identify how various applications will perform (including video streaming), and provide customers with support if the service falls short of expected speeds.
“The ACCC has listened to the views of consumers and industry in identifying the fundamental areas of concern and developing principles by which to resolve them,” Sims says.
“The ACCC will now work with industry and issue more detailed guidelines to ensure they are able to use this framework to provide better information to their customers. It’s the first step of a longer-term plan to bring about meaningful change.”
Sims also says greater transparency around broadband speeds will enable consumers to make clearer comparisons on product choices and further encourage ISPs to compete on speed and save consumers money.
He says the commission is also in discussion with the federal government about the possible introduction of a fixed broadband performance monitoring and reporting (BPMR) programme in Australia.
Here’s the ACCC’s six principles published today:
1. Consumers should be provided with accurate information about typical busy period speeds that the average consumer on a broadband plan can expect to receive
2. Wholesale network speeds or theoretical speeds taken from technical specifications should not be advertised without reference to typical busy period speeds
3. Information about the performance of promoted applications should be accurate and sufficiently prominent
4. Factors known to affect service performance should be disclosed to consumers
5. Performance information should be presented in a manner that is easily comparable by consumers, for example by adopting standard descriptive terms that can be readily understood and recognised, and
6. RSPs should have systems in place to diagnose and resolve broadband speed issues.