New complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) in October-December 2015 were at their lowest level in almost a decade, however internet complaints rose, TIO statistics show.New complaints were at their lowest level since July-September 2006, with the TIO receiving 23,572 new complaints in the quarter, down 9.4 per cent compared to the previous quarter, and 20.3 per cent fewer than in the corresponding period in 2014.
A 36 per cent year-on-year reduction in new mobile complaints “was driven by further falls in complaints about coverage and excess data charges, with mobile coverage no longer featuring as one of the 10 most common causes of consumer complaints to the TIO”.
Internet service complaints, meanwhile, rose 11.6 per cent year-on-year, with slow data speed continuing to be the primary driver of internet fault complaints, with 1,662 issues reported during the quarter, representing a 56.8 per cent increase year-on-year.
Among other internet service complaints, consumers reported 1,039 drop-out issues, up 15.7 per cent year-on-year.
The TIO recorded 2,176 new NBN-related landline and internet complaints in the quarter, 3.8 per cent fewer than in the previous quarter, however 40.1 per cent higher year-on-year, with the TIO noting the increase in complaints was much lower than the increase in connected premises over the same period (128.3 per cent).
An emerging issue during the quarter related to a growth in complaints about unusable NBN services, the TIO additionally noted, with 210 reports of unusable NBN landlines and 184 reports of unusable NBN internet services, an increase of 47.9 and 42.6 per cent, respectively, compared to the previous quarter, with some reports relating to both.
“The majority of complaints about unusable NBN services happened during the first few weeks of consumers transferring their services from copper to the NBN and 90 per cent were resolved after the TIO referred them back to the telco,” TIO acting ombudsman Diane Carmody commented.
