TELCO COMPLAINTS HIT THREE YEAR LOW

Complaints about telco services in Australia have dropped to the lowest levels since 2015, according to the Communications Alliance telecommunications industry body.

The Alliance says complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman for the October-December 2018 period, as a proportion of services in operation for the service providers who participate in the report, decreased for the fourth consecutive quarter, dropping to 6.0 complaints per 10,000 services.

That’s down from 8.7 for the same period a year earlier.

Optus continued to record the highest number of new complaints, at 6.9 per 10,000 services in operation – though that number was a drop from the previous quarter’s 7.7. Meanwhile, Telstra continued to hold its second spot, with 6.6 complaints per 10,000 services and was the only telco covered to record an increase, up marginally from 6.5.

Vodafone logged 3.0 new complaints per 10,000 services in operation, with Amaysim and Pivotel each on 0.5.

Not all service providers participate in the report, which covers complaints about mobile, internet and landline services from residential and small business customers.

Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton noted some of industry regulator ACMA’s new customer service focused instruments coming into effect halfway through the year of improvement, while others commenced towards the beginning of the most recent quarter.

“This has been a multi-faceted effort, and collaboration between industry, government and regulators has been an important part of this success,” Stanton said.

The revised Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code will expand the existing Complaints in Context report to include the top 10 recipients of TIO complaints, in addition to any providers who choose to voluntarily participate.

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