ACMA chair warns telcos of tighter customer service regulation

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 30 March 2011 14:17

IT Policy - Regulation

A year after he launched the ACMA's 'Reconnecting the Customer' enquiry into customer service in the telecommunications industry, ACMA chairman, Chris Chapman, has signalled strongly that the outcome will be tougher regulation, as he continues to pan the industry's customer service standards.

At an industry conference in Sydney, Chapman said: "The sharp rise in TIO complaint levels in the last quarter of 2010 and, again as the Ombudsman updated us yesterday, for the first two months of calendar 2011, punctured what appeared to be a long-awaited turnaround in ever-rising telco complaints.

"This was a disappointing reminder that we have a long way to go to achieve a systemic fix on issues, a step change, which to date, the current co-regulatory approach has not delivered. Let me reiterate for industry participants - a year later and yet record levels are being recorded. Faith, hope and 'she'll be right mate - trust us' has only so much elasticity."

He acknowledged that progress had been made, singling out Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, for "his energies and professionalism" and ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin for her "increasing willingness to deal pragmatically with the challenge of bridging to that view of the future that her organisation foresees."

However he added: "The telco industry sits at the bottom of the league table for customer care on virtually every measure. As things are shaping up, if we are going to get a material and sustained change in favour of consumers, then the landscape may well be one where we will need all players to accept targeted but robust interventions.

"What is blindingly obvious is that the market has failed to deliver around the issue of customer care and protection. We can all argue why this might be so, but concrete remedial action, buttressed where necessary with unambiguous regulatory activity, is what seems may now be required."

And he singled out "the industry's track record on compliance" as a clear target for regulatory intervention, saying "the time for self-reporting and 'tick-box' compliance measures might well have now passed."

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