Telecommunications Industry Welcomes Drop in Customer Complaints

Sydney, 3 February 2021 – Australian Telecommunications Alliance today welcomed the announcement by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) that complaints dropped by 11.2% in the most recent quarter.

“Challenges during COVID such as shutdowns of call centres impacted customer experience last year, but this significant drop in complaints – across all service types – reflects the work by telcos to meet these challenges and keep Australians connected,” said Australian Telecommunications Alliance CEO, John Stanton.

This quarter’s report follows the TIO’s 2019-2020 Annual Report, published in September, which reflected a third annual decrease in complaints.

Telcos are delivering improved customer service while constantly increasing value and offering lower prices, as shown by the ACCC’s 2019-2020 Communications Market report.

Mr Stanton said: “while complaints from residential consumers decreased at a faster rate than those from small businesses, we are pleased to see that complaint rates from both types of consumers decreased during the last quarter.

“We are grateful for the Ombudsman’s work to assist consumers and industry during the challenges of the last year, and are pleased to see complaint levels trending back towards pre-pandemic levels. Industry will continue working with the TIO and other stakeholders to improve customer experience,” Mr Stanton concluded.

ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE

Australian Telecommunications Alliance is the primary communications industry body in Australia. Its membership is drawn from a wide cross-section of the communications industry, including carriers, carriage and internet service providers, content providers, platform providers, equipment vendors, IT companies, consultants and business groups.

Its vision is to be the most influential association in Australian communications, co-operatively initiating programs that promote sustainable industry development, innovation and growth, while generating positive outcomes for customers and society.

The prime mission of Australian Telecommunications Alliance is to create a co-operative stakeholder environment that allows the industry to take the lead on initiatives which grow the Australian communications industry, enhance the connectivity of all Australians and foster the highest standards of business behaviour.

Media information contact:
info@austelco.org.au