Piecemeal telco regulations are delivering “bleak” outcomes for regional customers and are due for a ‘root to branch’ overhaul, the telecommunications industry ombudsman (TIO) has said in a new report recommending new service standards and consumer protections.
The report, entitled Left Behind: Experiences of Telco Consumers Living in Regional, Rural and Remote Australia, presents the TIO’s analysis of 27,882 complaints from regional, rural and remote areas in the past two years, with closer review of over 2,000 complaints.
Mobile services “can be unreliable and fall short”, the TIO found, which “can make everyday telco issues harder to resolve” – with “limited choice and low awareness of telco technologies” as unreliable services create significant safety risks and disruptions.
In many cases, poor connectivity is impeding more than just making phone calls or reaching Triple Zero – with intermittent mains power “a common cause of service outages” and natural disasters damaging infrastructure “in ways that cannot be quickly repaired.”
Erratic services are also having a direct economic impact, with poor connectivity on farms “a barrier to farmers making their businesses more efficient” because remote sensors, monitors and agricultural equipment rely on continuous mobile coverage.
These and other issues create recurring problems for the 7.4 million Australians living in regional and remote areas, which comprise 25 per cent and 1.9 per cent of the population, respectively, and accounted for a similar proportion of all complaints about mobile services.
Fully 44 per cent of complaints from regional and rural consumers related to mobile services, while those customers – many of whom rely on landline services or generator-powered satellite connectivity – lodged nearly twice as many complaints about landlines.
Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert blamed the service shortfalls on a regulatory regime that has failed to deliver reliable telecommunications services that, in regional areas, “are essential infrastructure for safety, economic participation and everyday life.”
“Australia’s telco regulatory framework has evolved piece-by-piece over many years,” she said, adding that “we now need to have a conversation about the system as a whole.”
Onerous regulations have crippled network expansion, the Australian Telecommunications Alliance (ATA) agreed, with telcos waiting an average 211 days – and reports of up to 700 days – for councils to review development applications for new mobile towers.
One inter-capital fibre-optic connection, the ATA said, required over 3,000 land access activity notices, over 1,000 individual construction certificates, over 1,700 land access surveys, and 171 separate cultural heritage and environmental assessments.
“Change is needed,” Gebert said, “to deliver the reliable, accessible and resilient services people in regional, rural and remote Australia need today, and into the future.”
On the cusp of change?
Complaints about regional and rural services have been a hallmark of TIO complaint registers for years, with regional customers lodging 47 telecom complaints per day and politicians seizing on every opportunity to paint both parties as inept on regional telecoms.
Recent changes have aimed to improve services, with a national coverage audit underway and the ACCC greenlighting an Optus-TPG plan to improve coverage and competition by sharing mobile towers and spectrum, even as new tower access rules boost overall resilience.
Evolving low earth orbit (LEO) satellites promise to improve connectivity where terrestrial telcos have failed – with Telstra recently expanding its mobile-to-Starlink services and the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO) set to mandate universal access to services.
Yet satellite services have their own issues, attracting over 2,000 complaints in the last two years – many because consumers cannot reach anyone to help when they have problems – and raising affordability issues that led the TIO to recommend prepaid services for satellite.
The ACCC recently opened a year-long inquiry to explore ways to improve telco services – floating the possibility of mandatory domestic roaming that would improve resilience during outages – yet the TIO surveys confirmed coverage isn’t the only problem.
Its analysis of regional complaints found the most commonly reported problems related to telcos that had failed to address reported issues or delayed their response; disputed charges; a lack of service; inadequate fault testing; and intermittent service.
“We consider the UOMO would be more beneficial,” the reports notes, “if it is coupled with reasonable mandatory service levels and service quality standards for mobile services” such as time limits to repair faulty mobile towers, “accessible and direct” compensation for delays, and pausing bills while customers wait for service techs.
You can only get so innovative
The review offers eleven recommendations about how the identified issues can be addressed, including “tailored” digital and connectivity literacy programs, education about Triple Zero options and preparing communities for scheduled maintenance outages.
It also recommends the creation of a publicly accessible database where consumers can see what telco services are available at their location, and development of service standards for IP-based SIP phone services, with consumer remedies when these standards are not met.
“While a root-and-branch review would benefit all consumers,” the report notes, it would particularly benefit regional consumers who “are among the most vulnerable to telco changes and have the fewest options when services go down or their telco equipment is made redundant.”
In the meantime, regional residents continue to compensate creatively – with residents reverting to handheld CB radios, lamenting the loss of 3G coverage and failover, driving large distances to place Triple Zero calls, and scheduling usage at generator-powered homes.
“People in the regions are practical, resilient, and they can accept services don’t always work perfectly,” Gebert said.
“What makes them feel left behind is being asked to accept less – fewer choices, less support and more uncertainty around access to affordable and reliable phone and internet.”
