The telecomms industry has made its last bid to escape regulation of its customer service practices by the ACMA, with the submission of a revised Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code to the ACMA for registration.

The telecoms industry self regulatory regime has come in for a stinging attack, with claims that it is simply not working, and will not work so long as there is no representation from the demand side of the industry on key industry bodies, particularly Communications Alliance.

Complaints about mobile premium services reached a peak of almost 10,000 in the September quarter of 2008 but had fallen to less than 1000 in the June quarter of 2011 thanks to an industry code of conduct and tight regulation by the ACMA. The ACMA however is not resting on its laurels and has kicked of a review of its MPS regulation.

Communications Alliance has released a draft of a new Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code saying it will deliver a host of stronger consumer protections including improved customer service, better information about products and services and improved responses to customer complaints.

The establishment of a committee to monitor telcos' compliance with its provision is one of raft of new consumer protection measures detailed in a Draft Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code released for public comment today.

This article replaces the earlier version, which was based on incomplete information and gave an incorrect interpretation of the ACMA's initiatives to improve consumer protection and customer service in the telecoms industry.

Communications Alliance has pre-empted release by the ACMA of the final version of its 'Reconnecting the Customer' enquiry - scheduled for 9 September - by revealing some provisions of its yet-to-be released Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP), including a proposed independent compliance monitoring body.

Communications Alliance has established an Operations Council, comprised of senior representatives from member companies to work closely with its board to guide and help manage the core operational activities of the Alliance.

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) reckons the telecommunications industry is in ‘denial’ about the threat of regulation if it fails to fix its customer service and complaints handling problems revealed in submissions to the Australian Communications & Media Authority’s (ACMA).

The telecomms industry has been almost unanimous in its responses to the ACMA's draft report of its 'Reconnecting the Customer' enquiry in claiming that a revised Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) Code will address the ACMA's concerns. ACCAN does not agree.