June 2011 - Sydney Morning Herald
The report is the result of a year-long inquiry provoked by a surge in complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
The inquiry has held hearings around the country and received submissions from stakeholders. The authority says the draft report will include ''proposals to materially improve consumer outcomes''.
In April last year the chairman of the authority, Chris Chapman, said: ''We want to get to the heart of the cause of this 'inherent tension', as the [Communications] Minister [Stephen Conroy] called it, between providers and customers who have problems - a breakdown which is damaging the reputation and brand equity of the whole industry.''
Complaints to the ombudsman rose 31.5 per cent in the first three months of this year. Complaints about mobile phones rose 50 per cent. The ombudsman, Simon Cohen, said it was the busiest quarter on record, a ''a grim quarter for consumers".
Phone companies, the ombudsman, advocacy groups and members of the public prepared submissions for the inquiry.
While phone companies acknowledged the rate of complaints was high, Optus said the data needed to be seen in context of its rising customer base and AAPT said the ombudsman's own complaints handling procedure could be better managed. It also said it was hamstrung by Telstra's dominance of fixed lines.
Groups such as the Redfern Legal Centre and Brotherhood of St Laurence said vulnerable people were particularly at risk - pricing structures were difficult for customers to understand and customer service could be aggressive and unhelpful.
Read the article on the Sydney Morning Herald website.
