One in two Aussies suffer phone and internet problems, with many not solved for months, TIO reveals

MILLIONS of Australians have suffered internet or phone issues in the past year. And experts have warned the outlook for customers is bleak.

HALF of all Australians have suffered problems with their phone or internet service in the past year and one in four of those problems took more than four months to fix, according to new research from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman that paints a dire picture of communications in Australia.

The study of almost 3000 people also found one in five consumers suffered more than one communications outage during the year, and three in five small businesses struggled with a phone or internet problem, in what Ombudsman Judi Jones said showed the industry may need a “transformation”.

Australians are putting up with too many telecommunications outages, failures, and delays.

The findings follow a 159 per cent surge in National Broadband Network complaints lodged with the Ombudsman last year, and comes ahead of a report next week which will show complaints will “continue to rise”.

Ms Jones revealed the findings at the CommsDay Summit in Sydney on Monday, telling the audience her office undertook the research to discover the true scope of phone and internet complaints in Australia.

The study found as many as 10 million Australians suffered issues with their phone and internet connections over the past year, with “still not resolved after four months,” which Ms Jones called “too long a time to be without a service”.

One in five consumers suffered more than one communications outage during the year.

The respondents rated most of their telecommunications problems as “serious” or “very serious,” but only 12 per cent of people experiencing service outages lodged complaints with the Ombudsman.

“There is clearly more work for us and the industry to do,” she said. “Some might say a transformation is needed.

“I believe the telecommunications industry needs to take a closer look at what complaints data and our research is telling us. We need to listen.”

Ms Jones said many of the issues could have been resolved had internet and phone providers acted quickly and communicated more clearly.

The respondents rated most of their telecommunications problems as “serious”.

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network chief executive Teresa Corbin said the study’s findings confirmed Australians were putting up with too many telecommunications outages, failures, and delays, and the number of complaints lodged with service provides was too high.

“Telcos need to acknowledge they are delivering an essential service,” she said.

“These days, we can’t do anything without a telecommunications service and it’s vital that they address issues as soon as possible.”

Ms Corbin said the research also showed the importance of an Australian Communications and Media Authority plan to force telcos to “publish their internal complaint statistics” and reveal the top three problems for customers.

The TIO will release a new report into official telecommunications complaints next week, which Ms Jones said would show complaints have continued to rise.

Originally published as One in two Aussies suffer phone and internet problems, with many not solved for months, TIO reveals