Telstra, Optus and TPG have all said that the National Broadband Network Co has not provided ‘timely and accurate speed information’
Three Australian operators — Telstra, Optus and TPG — are under investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over allegations of making ‘false or misleading’ representations of their 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps National Broadband Network fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) connections.
The ACCC alleges that the operators informed customers they would test the maximum speed of their connections and notify those with underperforming connections. However, the trio reportedly failed to send such notifications, and further, they “wrongly accepted payments” from certain customers for the National Broadband Network (NBN) that did not live up to the promised speeds.
“Telstra, Optus and TPG each promised to tell consumers within a specific or reasonable timeframe if the speed they were paying for could not be reached on their connection,” said Rod Sims, ACCC chair. “They also promised to offer them a cheaper plan with a refund if that was the case. Instead, we allege, they failed to do these things, and as a result, many consumers paid more for their NBN plans than they needed to.”
Sims claimed that this has impacted “hundreds of thousands of consumers.”
The statements considered to be “false” and “misleading” were made on the companies’ websites and in emails to consumers from at least April 1, 2019 to April 20, 2020 in the case of Telstra and TPG, and at least January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 in the case of Optus.
Telstra and TPG have both taken an apologetic approach to the situation, with its Group Executive of Consumer and Small Business Michael Ackland stating, “We are very sorry to have let these customers down. We are managing this important and complicated issue proactively and accept that there are some things that we didn’t do right.”
Ackland added that speed transparency is complicated and NBN, Australia’s national open-access data network, leaves this issue “entirely” to retail service providers (RSPs). Further, he said that when customers first moved to the NBN neither the NBN Co nor the RSP were aware of the available speeds at the customers’ premises.
Because of this, he argued, customers are left without the speed and connectivity information they most need. “This is why we strongly support the current ACCC process examining the price RSPs pay for access to the NBN, and the service standards to which NBN Co should deliver,” he continued.
TPG, too, apologized for the oversight while accusing NBN of failing to “provide timely and accurate speed information to TPG Internet.” TPG also blamed anomalies in TPG Internet’s legacy processes in place since 2017, which the operator claimed have since been fixed “post-merger.”
“There was no intention whatsoever by TPG Internet to avoid its obligations and its processes were intended to provide the correct maximum attainable speed information to customers,” said a spokesperson, adding that impacted customers will be contacted and offered the option to move down a plan and receive a refund, leave and receive a refund or stay on their current plan.
Optus is taking a more cautious approach to the accusations, commenting, through a spokeswoman, that it is “carefully considering the matter.”
“The speed achievable on some NBN connections can be impacted by issues including the length and quality of the copper line that connects a customer to the NBN. Unfortunately, not all NBN connections can deliver the same speeds,” said the spokeswoman.
In September 2020, NBN Co announced plans to upgrade millions of homes in the FTTN footprint to full fiber connections as part of a $3.5bn network improvement.
