Telecommunications providers will next year have to adhere to a number of new rules drafted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority to improve the experience of consumers who move to the national broadband network.
The ACMA said today that it drafted the rules after analysing the industry's own data.
The new rules will:
- Specify the minimum information that telcos must provide about their network services before they sign up consumers;
- Specify minimum standards for telcos’ complaints-handling processes and a requirement for telcos to report their complaint numbers to the ACMA so that changes can be monitored;
- Require telcos to "line test" new services on the network to ensure that lines are working and that faults are identified early; and
- Require consumers to be reconnected to legacy network services, if fall-back is needed until the new network service is successfully connected.
Consultation on the detail of the rules will begin in early 2018, with the rules to be in place by 1 July 2018.
{loadposition sam08}"We have had strong concerns for some time about how telcos are helping consumers move to the new network," said ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin. "These concerns have been borne out by our recent analysis of the industry’s own data.
"This evidence — and the rapid increase in complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman — shows that many telcos are not stepping up to get the right information to consumers and resolve migration issues quickly and effectively."
The ACMA said its analysis had shown that:
- 55.7% of all network-related complaints were about service quality (faults and speed);
- A further 44.3% of network-related complaints were about connection issues;
- On average, complaints about faults took up to 19 days to resolve, whereas complaints about connection issues took up to 28 days to resolve; and
- On average, it took up to 45 days for customers to have their old voice and data services moved across to the network.
"Industry co-regulatory arrangements are not serving consumers well in a number of important areas. As a result, the ACMA will make new mandatory rules to require telcos to improve their performance in these areas," O’Loughlin said.
"The rollout of the new network presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve broadband services for all Australians. We think it is high time that telcos stepped up to help consumers migrate seamlessly so that they can make the most of that opportunity.
"While these new rules focus on retail service providers, we welcome work by the ACCC looking at wholesale service standards on the network."
Unlike co-regulatory industry codes, the new rules will be immediately and directly enforceable by the ACMA. Any breach means the ACMA can commence court proceedings and seek injunctions and civil penalties of up to $250,000.
For breaching a service provider rule, the maximum civil penalty a court can impose is $10 million. There are no pecuniary penalties for breaching an industry code.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, the peak body representing consumer interests in telecommunications, welcomed the introduction of the new rules, saying it had been calling for issues to be addressed.
“The ACMA’s analysis of issues relating to NBN migration confirms what we already know, and highlights some very concerning complaint trends,” said ACCAN chief executive Teresa Corbin. “The findings reflect the consumer experiences ACCAN has been hearing about as customers switch over to the NBN.
“The experience of migrating to the NBN has shone a light on the inadequacies of the current regulatory framework to support the delivery of essential telecommunications services. Once in place these new rules will ensure that the regulator has better tools to ensure practices of telco providers improve.”
The head of telco industry lobby group, the Communications Alliance, said the organisation would work with regulators and government to finalise the ACMA's rules.
“The transition to the NBN is creating major change for the country, requiring ongoing adaptation throughout the supply chain. To the extent that the measures announced will contribute to better co-ordination of the multi-party supply chain that delivers services to consumers - and therefore improve the overall consumer experience - this will obviously be a positive” CA chief executive John Stanton said.
"We note and agree with the ACMA’s statement that we should avoid duplication or confusion across existing codes and any new standards - hence the importance of the consultative process that will begin next month between the regulator and industry, to create the detail of any new measures.”
Stanton added that the initiatives were an extension of existing industry co-regulatory measures in information provision, complaint handling and complaint reporting.
He said some carriage service providers were already undertaking most or all of the activities mentioned by Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, and the initiatives were an opportunity to create more consistent behaviour across the sector.
More information on the new rules is here while details of the ACMA's analysis is here.