30 May 2022 - Internet Association of Australia

Inherent Issues With The TIO

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) closed consultation for its 5-year independent review on 15 May. The consultation was primarily focused on its ability to meet the Australian ‘benchmarks for Industry Based Customer Dispute Resolution’, as well as other issues including its revised terms of reference, governance and authorising environment and engagement and outreach activities. In preparation for our submission, IAA’s policy team consulted with various industry representatives. The feedback we received from our members has highlighted concerns with the TIO’s management of consumer complaints, which seems to point to inherent issues with TIO’s cost structure and complaints escalation model.

We establish from the outset that IAA recognises the value of the TIO and the fundamental role it plays in the industry. The TIO is an industry-based ombudsman with the charter to provide an independent and external dispute resolution service, giving consumers an avenue to raise complaints about their telecommunications provider, free of charge. Carriers and eligible carriage service providers are required by legislation to join the TIO scheme.

The TIO reported it received 301,396 complaints in 2020-21. It is proud to announce that 90% of these were resolved at the referral stage. The ‘referral’ stage is the lowest level of complaints handling where the TIO allows the provider to directly resolve a customer complaint. If the dispute is unresolved at this stage, it will be escalated to the ‘agreement’ level where the complaint is handled through dispute resolution methods such as conciliation, and investigation. In cases where the consumer and provider cannot come to an agreement, the next stage involves the complaint being resolved by a preliminary view or decisions by the TIO.

However, it should be noted that providers face greater costs as the complaints are escalated to higher levels. This has often resulted in cases where a provider will concede and provide the complainant with some compensation, even when the provider is not at fault. Some of our members have reported instances where even the TIO has acknowledged that the customer is in the wrong, but has advised the provider to give the customer some compensation anyway, as the costs for escalating the dispute to the next stage will be higher than the compensation amount. This points to inherent problems with the costs and complaints handling structure through which the TIO operates.

Another issue that became glaring is that the TIO is often failing to follow its own terms of reference. Clause 2.20 of the TIO’s terms of reference provide that the TIO “…will only consider a complaint after the member has had a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues.” However, while resources promoting the TIO and their complaints webpages note that customers must first directly contact the provider, there is no mention that they must also give the provider an opportunity to consider the issue or respond. Even the TIO’s online complaint submission form does not include the requirement of allowing the provider an opportunity to consider the complaint directly, without the involvement of the TIO.

A joint submission by consumer advocacy groups has also highlighted inefficiencies with the TIO’s complaints handling mechanisms. Making 19 recommendations to improve the operation of the TIO, some of these points seem to be harmonious with the concerns raised by industry.

For example, the joint submission calls for a differentiation to be made between simple complaints that can be resolved in a substantially shorter period (5 working days instead of 10). However, as noted in IAA’s submission, a large number of the complaints resolved via referral are disputes which should not have been dealt with by the TIO at all. If the requirement that a provider is given a genuine opportunity to respond is adhered to, the TIO would likely see a significant drop in dispute cases, resulting in a much more efficient process for everyone involved.

Recommendation 3 of the joint submission also outlines that the TIO should ensure its intake processes thoroughly assess the root cause of the complaint. This is a concern similarly raised by industry where it seems the TIO often fails to understand the underlying cause of the problem. In our submission, we raised the TIO’s lack of knowledgeable triage which has resulted in a large number of complaints being raised against the incorrect provider. This has especially been the case where retail providers are being blamed for issues that lie with the wholesale providers.

The coalition of consumer representative bodies has also called for an expansion of the TIO’s public reporting. Industry has similarly called for greater transparency and in-depth reporting. IAA noted the lack of clarity in the TIO’s 2020-21 Annual Report, particularly in relation to the TIO’s costs and revenue allocation. Given the overall decrease in the number of complaints made from previous periods to 2020-21, the increase in costs and expenses of the TIO in this same period should be explained.

However, it is worth noting that the data requested by the consumer advocacy groups include the technology types, geographical location, and the TIO members involved in the complaints. While IAA supports the call for greater transparency and detail in the TIO’s reporting in general, we disagree that the providers involved in TIO complaints should be publicised. Especially under current circumstances where it seems providers are being involved in disputes that either should not be dealt with by the TIO or concerns other providers entirely, this sort of ‘name and shame’ tactic seems particularly unfair.

IAA, our members, and the telco industry recognise the value of an industry ombudsman. We acknowledge its necessity for the functioning of a healthy and thriving sector and wish to see consumers having an appropriate and effective mechanism through which they can bring genuine complaints. However, it is clear there are inherent issues that require some major improvements if the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman is going to succeed in this role.

Read IAA’s full submission.

Blog, Newsletters

IAASysters 2022

IAASysters is a program designed to support women in the Internet industry by offering ten sponsored attendees the opportunity to attend the IAASysters Workshop and the AusNOG Conference. The one-day workshop equips attendees with a range of soft skills and important career planning advice, so they have the tools they need to have a fulfilling and successful career.

Attending the AusNOG Conference is an integral part of the program and also contributes to its success. By sending attendees to this event, they build their technical skills and knowledge and can take advantage of all the networking opportunities that arise from it.

Applications to become a sponsored attendee are closed. Although applications were open to all, we encouraged women to apply as this program is designed to suit their needs due to a waning number of females within our industry. Applicants were required to meet the following eligibility criteria:

Must be an Internet engineer / technician / product specialist / programmer
Have a passion for the Internet and the Internet industry

Applications demonstrating the most potential for personal growth and passion for the Internet are rated highest.

Sponsored attendees receive:

Ticket to attend the IAASysters@AusNOG (31 August 2022)
Ticket to the AusNOG Conference (1-2 September 2022)
Economy airfares to Melbourne and accommodation (if required)
One-year complimentary Professional membership to IAA (subject to Board approval)

For more information about this event, please head over to the IAASysters page on our website or get in touch with us at events@internet.asn.au

Proudly Sponsored by:

Events, Industry News, Past Events

CommsDay Summit 2022 Recap

IAA was fortunate to attend and present at the CommsDay Summit 2022 held on 3-4 May 2022. Joined by then Federal Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher MP, and then Shadow Minister Michelle Rowland MP, industry engaged in an insightful and passionate discussion about the telecommunications industry.

Amongst several other interesting topics, there were a few clear themes prevalent throughout the Summit; how to further digitise the sector and maximise the potential of 5G and IoT, improving market competition, particularly in regional Australia, and with the federal election looming, regulation and policy for the sector.

There was an apparent recognition across the board of the need to further capitalise on the digitisation of the telco sector and other industries as they begin to digitise, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. Agriculture and education were highlighted as sectors where greater 5G and IoT uptake could rapidly benefit the respective industries. Furthermore, maximising the potential of 5G to ensure the sustainability of telecommunications technology was also a recurring concern raised by several presenters, including a dynamic look into smart poles during ENE. HUB’s lightning talk. Both Essential Energy and Lumea presented on their convergence of energy and telco industries to use telecommunications assets to provide a solution for sustainable energy. Optus emphasised its hopes for the industry’s future, including achieving a sustainable sector by 2030.

ACMA also attended the Summit, presenting on the challenges facing the industry; the most pressing issue, according to ACMA – scammers. This follows the Customer Identification Authentication Rules recently created by ACMA, which will come into effect from 30 June 2022. IAA has created a whitepaper unpacking the rules to assist members in implementing new obligations. ACMA also stated that the authority would focus on raising awareness and educating both industry and consumers in the lead up to the rules’ commencement date. ACMA also called on industry to continue collaboration with financial bodies and various government authorities, including ASIC, ACCC, and the AFP, among other stakeholders, to ensure robust systems and procedures, including the adoption of the new automation, filtering and tracking technologies that can combat the proliferation of scammers. They also highlighted recent efforts to filter and trace scam calls with some astounding numbers of calls reported. When they say scammers are targeting Australia on an industrial scale, the numbers certainly support this.

However, the regulatory focus at this Summit centred around NBN, and the lack of competition in the market, particularly in regional Australia. Vocus CEO Kevin Russell pointed out government policies enacted by both major parties have directly resulted in the monopolisation of the market by NBN Co. The need for better balance and increased competition and opportunity for other players was reiterated throughout the Summit. Both political candidates, Fletcher and Rowland, pointed out the alleged failures of their respective opponent’s governments in delivering adequate NBN services.

NBN continued to be a focus from IAA CEO Narelle Clark, who presented IAA’s “2022 Election Wish List”, similarly noting the need to improve NBN performance, alongside other pressing points including rebuilding industry-government trust, improved market access, particularly for smaller Internet players, better Internet for regional and rural areas, and implementing a strategy to address the skills shortage in the industry. These points echoed many of the concerns raised throughout the Summit, with some presenters proposing solutions that industry should take on themselves and the sort of regulation they believe should be introduced by the government.

While neither political candidate directly addressed these concerns, it’s clear that the telco sector continues to be energised by the potential opportunities presented by emerging technologies, in tune with the concerns that face the Australian and global society, and is committed to innovating and providing new and improved services to ensure the development of Australia as a leading digital economy of the future.

Industry News, Member, Newsletters

Catching up With Long-time Member, Aubrey Adams

In the spirit of celebration of WA-IX’s 25-year milestone, we’ve been catching up with founding and long-time members and this month; we’re sharing our catch up with Aubrey Adams. At the time of joining WAIA, Aubrey was teaching a technology management unit in the MIS Bachelor course at Edith Cowan University in Perth and was completing his post-grad diploma in computing. He had started using this new ‘World Wide Web’ thing to do research and became very interested in how it all worked and what it would mean for doing business and education. Many businesses were starting to have ISPs host their web servers off-premises, and he encouraged his students to think about what it would mean for a business to no longer have direct physical control of its data and the public’s access to it. As such, Aubrey searched for an industry association for ISPs and found WAIA and contacted them to arrange a guest speaker for his class. Kim Heitman came out and gave a talk to the students. Since then, Aubrey joined as a professional member as a way to keep himself informed of developments in the new world of the Internet.

Although Aubrey was not involved in setting up WA-IX, he recalls the announcement at a quarterly general meeting and thought that it was a type of local ‘sub-Internet’ and recalled that the rationale and benefits to ISPs that were presented about the IX were very clear.

When asked about his opinion on the most significant impact WA-IX has had on Australia’s Internet, Aubrey stated that “reducing data transit costs are very significant and that it contributed to the Internet and all its services becoming a ubiquitous feature of our life today. It has allowed ISPs to manage data delivery and create things such as ‘non-quota’ services, examples such as Netflix not being counted in a customer’s download limit. This model has then been implemented across Australia (and NZ) to benefit all users in some way.”

Aubrey credits WA-IX’s growth and expansion over the past 25 years to the members and technical staff who saw the need and had the vision to implement and manage that growth. He describes being able to stream live matches of the Women’s Cricket World Cup from New Zealand on his smart TV using Kayo, with a picture quality that is outstanding. Although he acknowledges the NBN and advances in-home Wi-Fi all contribute to this, it’s infrastructure like WA-IX that enables that data, and a myriad of other services, to be available on-demand at an affordable cost.

In future, Aubrey hopes to see more of the same – providing exceptional peering and efficient data transit for all members and users. He also stated how IAA’s recent advocacy work has been excellent, and he hopes that that continues and that he would like to see more informational/educational sessions for professional members in an online format will happen (if you would like the same, let us know at events@internet.asn.au).

Member, Newsletters

Customer Identity Authentication – What you Need to Know

On 8 April 2022, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) introduced a new set of rules, the Telecommunications Service Provider (Customer Identity Authentication) Determination 2022. These new rules are intended to protect customers from identity fraud scams that occur over telecommunications networks, including unauthorised mobile porting and unauthorised SIM swap scams.

The new rules come into effect on 30 June 2022, and a number of our members will be affected by the changes. To ensure a smooth transition, we’ve prepared a whitepaper – Understanding Customer Authentication – that provides guidance to better understand and implement these new rules prior to their commencement on 30 June 2022. If you would like to discuss the rule changes or the paper further, please get in contact with our policy team at policy@internet.asn.au.

Advocacy, Industry News, Newsletters

Meet the Member – Matthew Enger

This month’s meet the member segment features our wonderful Chair, Matthew Enger. Matt is the Managing Director of X Integration and Leaptel and joined IAA in 2016 as a relative newbie in the Internet industry. He joined after being told that this peering idea is a ‘good thing to do’ and looking for a way to reduce his transit bill that was costing him $20 per Meg! He has come to learn what peering is and just how important it is to us as a country.

Matt became interested in the Internet when it was a new thing. He was in secondary school at the time and moved his school from a dialup modem being shared by everyone to a Linux box running IP masquerade over a 64k ATM link and remembers thinking – WOW! From there, he got involved in things like ml.org offering free DNS and played with website hosting and built his own interactive website with Perl and later PHP. After living in Hong Kong, he returned to Australia and was accidentally invited to help a customer of a friend with their dialup ISP. Since then, he’s been hooked!

Throughout his career, Matt has achieved many things. After his first internet company didn’t make it as selling dialup for $16.95 per month in an all you can eat fashion wasn’t sustainable, he ended up moving into business IT, but with a side of ADSL. The business owner at the time wanted to move on and handed him the keys to the kingdom and its customers – X Integration was formed. From there, he built up a business customer base, and after a few disasters (Veridas dying overnight, ISPOne collapsing), he looked at his customer base and realised he could do this ADSL thing himself. They began selling ADSL and NBN via an aggregator and established Leaptel. Since then, they have moved into mainstream Internet, and he has been learning and growing his network skills to support a national network with five datacentres and lots of customers! They also recently connected to 121 NBN POIs and have a direct relationship with NBN. This means they have lots of CVC (1.5G x 121 POIs), so if anyone wants fast Internet with no congestion, please sign up!

All business aside, when Matt’s not working, he splits his time between family (two girls aged 10 and 6) and Scouting. He really enjoys Scouting and finds it exciting to see 3000 kids attend the recent Victorian Jamboree in January and have such a great time after two years of being locked down due to Covid. He says he is lucky in his role as the Victorian State Commissioner – Scouts to have a significant positive impact on the lives of kids throughout Australia.